Fighting For Family
by Queen-Deb24
Summary: "Ok this is the woman who we need you to find. I know this may come as a shock to you -," she continued speaking as she pulled out a number of photos from the envelope. Dom didn't hear anything else she was saying. There they were . . .those eyes. . .
1. Chapter 1

_**Hi and welcome to my new story. **_

_**This story is set after Fast and Furious.**_

_**I do not own any part of The Fast and The Furious franchise and mean no harm.**_

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"Toretto." The guard shouted at him. "You got a visitor, get up."

It had been six very long, very slow months since he had been incarcerated again. He'd sworn he'd never go back; he'd die before he did but things changed. When the one thing, the one single thing that mattered to him, was taken from him, things changed. And frankly, in his eyes, it was his fault. So 25 to life seemed a fitting punishment.

Dominic Toretto was handcuffed and led to a room.

While walking he thought of who could possibly be visiting him? It wasn't Sunday, so it was extremely unlikely that it was Mia. Brian hadn't visited him since the day after his sentencing so he didn't expect him either.

There really wasn't anyone else. His life wasn't the same since he had been here last. Back when he was 18 and imprisoned. It was tough! But he had visitors. Hector and Edwin came every two or three months keeping him up to date with the happenings on the street. Vince, Leon and Jesse took turns visiting him weekly, sometimes more. Mia, as she does now, visited every Sunday. Letty, would come whenever she could, sometimes with the boys, sometimes with Mia, and often by herself. It was a rare occurrence for a week to go by, without seeing her at least twice.

He hadn't heard from his boys, his brothers, for years, so he wasn't getting his hopes up on them suddenly paying him a visit. And Letty... it still hurt too much to think about. No, she wouldn't be visiting him either. So who?

He entered the interview room to see a smartly dressed, young Asian woman wearing a FBI badge. She stood as he entered, brushing down her clothes before moving her right hand out before her and then pulled it back when she saw his hands were cuffed.

"Mr Toretto, thank you for meeting with me. I am Agent Lee from the FBI. Please sit." And she gestured for him to do so.

"Didn't have a choice." He grumbled and then cleared his throat.

"What, uh, I mean pardon?" She appeared nervous.

"I didn't have a choice" he repeated. She looked at him blankly. "In meeting with you." He pressed. "I didn't have a choice in meeting with you." There was a tone to his voice which made her feel uneasy.

"Oh, uh, I'm sorry. It will only take a few minutes. I think you will be interested in what I have to say."

She waited for him to speak to her again. He didn't, so she continued.

"Mr Toretto, I am here on behalf of the FBI. We have a proposition for you." She took a deep breath giving him a chance to comment but again, he remained silent.

"Ok. Um well. I'll just uh continue." She took a deep breath as if choosing her words carefully. "Mr Toretto I'm here to offer you a chance at regaining your freedom."

At this his eyebrows rose but he didn't say a thing.

"In order to regain your freedom we need you to, to, uh find a particular person of interest, and bring them to the FBI for uh questioning. Once that person of interest has been spoken to, your record will be cleared and you will be allowed to return to your home. You will not be bothered by us again, unless of course you break the law." She finished laughing weakly hoping to break the tension in the room. She cleared her throat and waited.

He didn't budge from his position or smile at her joke.

He looked as if he were in deep thought. It was one of those things that seemed too good to be true. Find a crim, bring said crim in and be free.

"What aren't you telling me?" He said, waiting for her to elaborate. When she didn't, he then told her that it seemed too good to be true and that he wasn't buying what she was selling.

"Why aren't you using your own men for this?"

It was a good question and Agent Lee had heard it being asked many times in meetings during the past couple of days.

"Mr Toretto, I will not lie to you ok! The truth is we have been using our own men. For the past four months but we haven't made any progress. It seems that if anyone is going to find her, it's going to be you."

"Her!" he barked.

Agent Lee nodded.

He actually threw his head back in laughter at this. Not laughing out of humour, but out of surprise.

"You are going to give me my freedom, clear my record, if I go out and find some bitch who you have beef with, and bring her to you. If I do that then I get my freedom?"

When Agent Lee nodded at him in confirmation his eyes turned cold.

"You aren't telling me something. You seem to be offering big things for something that doesn't seem so big. How do I know you won't fuck me over?"

"Mr Toretto, I realise that this deal puts you in a win or lose situation. Trust me, I have run it over in my head a thousand times. But you cannot begin to comprehend the importance of this job. I will do, and have done everything in my power to ensure that you are not _fucked over_ as you have so kindly put it. Do you want to hear more?"

It would be so easy to decline the offer, tell Agent Lee where she could go and return to his cell for another twenty-four and a half years. But something, something was pushing him to listen to her, just listen.

He slowly nodded.

Agent Lee let out the breath she didn't realise she was holding.

"You are familiar with the Braga cartel yes?" At this her eyes moved to the table as if refusing to look into his eyes.

"I thought that was all taken care of?"

"Well yes and no. The Braga cartel is no more thanks to you and O'Connor, however is now appears that Braga was actually second in command. We have no leads of who his boss was or where he is an-"

"Why don't you ask him?" Dom interrupted knowing that Braga was imprisoned somewhere in the States unlike Fenix who he hoped was burning in hell.

"As it turns out Braga was eliminated before he reached his sentencing. Someone did not want him speaking to anyone! But we believe there is one person who could possibly hold information pertinent to finding out who really ran the Braga cartel."

"Wait a minute, _could possibly! _I would be doing this for you when your girl could only _possibly _know the information you need. Look lady this doesn't make any sense!"

"Mr Toretto, you don't understand!"

She stood up now and began pacing the length of the interview room. "She is good, we have been trailing her for months and just when we think we are close enough to bring her in... she's gone and we're back to the beginning. She's fast! We have sent our best to get her and they all come back empty handed. She's good at running, it's like she never stops. There's never a break! It is to the point now where we are afraid that we aren't the only ones trying to get her. I mean, what else could she been running from. It's too dangerous to get other law enforcement agencies looking for her because we don't know the bigger picture. There could be other people involved. Without knowing who is on whose side we are blind"

Agent Lee stopped there. She didn't want to tell too much, well that was the plan at the beginning anyway. She looked at Dominic Toretto, the one person she knew would be able to help her. She could tell that he was running all of the information through his head. She was praying silently in her head for him to help, who knew, maybe it would help him too.

"Ok." He grumbled.

"What! Really? Oh Mr Toretto..."

"Number one, if we are going to work together you really need to stop doing that. Call me Dominic."

"Thank-you uh, Dominic. Ok I need to debrief you on the situation and then I will have someone take you home. I just need to get some paperwork sent over from the office. Give me a minute."

He called out to her before she could leave the room. "I can go home today?" he asked his demeanour changing.

"Yes." She smiled kindly. "I'll be back soon."

He wondered if she would come back. Whether someone was playing some sick joke on him, getting his hopes up and then purposely ripping them away. However the sound of the door opening chased those thoughts away.

When she returned she had a rather large envelope in her hands and also a folder full of paper work. She also retuned with a guard, who was surprised to be asked to remove his handcuffs and collect his personal belongings.

They took care of the necessary paperwork and the guard returned with a small box full of some photos, his cross chain and letters Mia had sent.

"Ok Dominic, this is the difficult part of the proposition. I want you to understand that this may be hard for you to hear. But you need to ok, so just listen until I finish and then we'll go from there."

There was a shake to her voice which wasn't there before, the excitement and passion for the job had disappeared and now there was fear. Fear of what? He didn't know, but it was the first time since he walked into the room that he realised this may be serious.

"Ok this is the woman who we need you to find. I know this may come as a shock to you -," she continued speaking as she pulled out a collection of photos from the envelope.

He didn't hear anything else she was saying.

_Those eyes. _

He thought she was dead.

But then things started coming together

_She's fast!_

_Those eyes_. He hadn't looked at them for over a year.

_She's good at running!_

_Those eyes._ Oh how he had missed them and the pain he felt that second was unbearable. White hot pain. It was tearing him up.

It was like he was still holding that phone and hearing Mia's voice... _she's been murdered._

He chose that moment to look up at Agent Lee. She had stopped talking and was looking at him with sad eyes.

"Is this some kind of a twisted joke?" He asked, standing, trying with everything he had to keep his temper into line.

"We have reason to believe Leticia Ortiz is alive. That she didn't die in that car." Lee spoke slowly as if calming a lion.

She continued, "These are our latest surveillance of her recent activity."

There were four photos in total. Each showed the same woman. In three, the woman wore dark sunglasses covering her eyes. In the last photo. The one closest to Dom, there was nothing hiding her face to him. In this photo, it she was walking towards a grocery store when she had turned around. The photo had been taken mid action so her hair fanned around her face. The photo had been enlarged to show the woman's face clearly.

_Letty._

He couldn't speak. He wanted to but nothing was coming out. Once again this woman had thrown him, his woman. She was alive.

_She is good, we have been trailing her for months and just when we think we are close enough to bring her in... She's gone and we're back to the beginning._

_She's fast! _Damn straight she is, he wouldn't have had it another way.

_Letty._

"Is she ok?" he asked softly, running his finger over the picture.

Once again Agent Lee smiled at him. "I really don't know but we have never trailed her to a hospital so I think so. We have more surveillance coming in on Thursday which I will happily bring you and then it's up to you to find her. I am assuming of course you will still help?"

_Letty. _

"Of course! But what am I supposed to do until Thursday?"

"Well I assumed you would have liked some time with your sister. So really, your record is being cleared as we speak. For the next two days, enjoy yourself! I will come see you on Thursday and hopefully bring new photos telling us where Miss Ortiz is. Mr Toretto I realise the position I am putting you in. I really do! But do you see why you are the only person for the job?

"Mmmm yeah"

"What happens when I find her? I don't want her locked up!"

"Dominic, that's not even on the cards. All we want to know is, if she knows who really ran the Braga cartel. That's it! Like I said before, she may know or she may not. But we have to try! Besides do you really think I would be fighting for you to be let go and then turn around and lock your girlfriend up. I just need to talk to her. Let me go organise for you to be taken home. It's been a long day."

She left again but the photos remained on the table. Despite the fact that in three of them her eyes were hidden he knew it was her. Her body language and clothes were screaming at him.

How could he not know she was still alive?

_Those eyes. _

Since he'd taken that phone call from Mia, _those eyes_ were all he thought about. He could look into those deep brown eyes forever and still want more. _Those eyes _sparkled when she was laughing and turned fierce when she was angry. _Those eyes _had showed him more love and dedication than any one person deserved in an entire life time.

And most importantly _those eyes_ had a chance, a real chance, of coming back to him, and nothing would stand in his way.

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_**If ever reviews are important it is right now.**_

_**Please I BEG YOU review the first chapter of this story and let me know what you think and tell me if you want it to continue. **_

_**Give me the encouragement I need to keep writing **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hi again.**_

_**A very big thank-you to all of those wonderful people who reviewed chapter 1, I really appreciated it. **_

_**Here you go. Fighting for Family – Chapter 2.**_

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The ride home was a blur. As it turned out Agent Lee drove him home herself, but, despite their new working relationship the car remained silent.

Dominic Toretto literally had hundreds of thoughts and questions running through his head.

_How did she survive? Where is she? Is she ok? Is she really alive? Why hasn't she come home? Had something happened to her since the photos were taken? Why hasn't she come home? Why didn't she try and find him? Why hasn't she come home? Is she mad at me? Is that why she doesn't want to come home? But she rebuilt the Charger so she couldn't really be mad, could she? Would she want to talk to him? Would she know he was being brought in to find her? Does she want him to find her? _

The questions raged on and on. He also kept having flashbacks of her and _those eyes_.

_The first time they met._

_The first time they spoke._

_The first time she called him a dick._

_Her 16__th__ birthday when he and Vince gave her, her first car. _

_Their first kiss._

_Sneaking out of his room to go sneak into hers... down the street._

_Their first fight. _

_The first time they made love._

_The first time he put his arm around her at a race._

_Their first fight at a race._

It went on and on. He couldn't stop them. It was getting too much.

She's alive and he hadn't seen her for months and yet she was the only thing he could think about, the only thing he could see, the only thing he wanted.

He shook his head as if to clear it.

"You see why I'm giving you two days off?"

He didn't answer. To be truthful he didn't really believe that he was almost at his house. Almost home! Back to the fort, to his family. It had been a very long time since this place was referred to as the fort. His family which was also considerably smaller than it had been before, but still, home to Mia.

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When the pulled up out the front of his house, he just stared. He could see Mia walking towards the garage but he didn't move.

"There you go?" He still hadn't moved.

He was waiting for her to start laughing at him and drive off. But she didn't. She seemed to sense the reason for his hesitation.

"Mr Toretto this isn't a joke, you're not dreaming. This is real. I know this is a shock. What an afternoon huh? But seriously get your butt out of my car and go home. I'll be back on Thursday." And she literally used both hands to try and push him from his seat. She didn't move him much, but he got the picture.

He watched her drive off and he turned towards his home.

The walk up the driveway was unlike anything he had ever experienced. Each step made him realise that this was real, she was alive and he was really home.

He stopped at the picnic table and sat down. He could hear his sister in the garage and then hear the door being pulled closed. He wasn't looking at her but he heard the gasp that escaped her mouth.

"Dom, Dom, Dominic. Oh my god." She ran to him and engulfed him in a hug in a way that only Mia could. He stood and hugged her back.

"What are you doing here? Did they let you go- Oh my god you broke out!" She worried. "Dominic, we gotta get you inside come on." She began pulling him inside to hide him.

"Mia, I didn't break out."

She gave him a sceptical glare.

"Mi, it's all good." He laughed slightly but without feeling.

"Dominic, what is going on?" Her eyes were wide, frightened. She had always been able to see through his lies. There was no way that he could be here unless there was something wrong.

"They let me out Mi," his voice nothing more than a gravelly whisper.

"Let you out? What do you mean let you out? Why? Dominic... , don't get me wrong. I am happy that you are here but to have let you out! Something's not right. If they let you out why aren't you happy? You look like you've seen a ghost."

_Seen a ghost, yeah, you could say that_, he thought to himself.

"Mia, we need to talk. I need you to get O'Connor. I think we're gonna need some help!"

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The look she gave him after he requested O'Connor was that of full of shock, which surprised him! He could see that she wanted an explanation right then and there, but, she did as she was asked.

She led him into their house and the scent of their home overwhelmed him. Home! He was home!

He sat on the couch while she called O'Connor. It was funny, he had originally thought he would have found O'Connor here with Mia, but, as he looked around the room he saw nothing of Brian's and nothing to even suggest that he had been visiting.

When Mia came into the room, his interrogation started. He was the big brother after all.

"Aren't you all friendly with O'Connor or something?" he asked gruffly, accepting the Corona she had brought him.

"I don't want him in my life," she simply said.

"What? What happened? Did he hurt you?" Dom was out of the chair before she could blink.

The truth was, no Brian O'Connor hadn't hurt her, but Brian Earl Spilner did!

She tried her best to explain the situation to her brother.

"Dom, I just... he just... He wrecked our family. He tore it apart. That was almost ten years ago and it really didn't hit me until a few months ago. Almost ten years and nothing is the same. Nothing will ever be the same. I can't really blame him for Jesse, I know that," her voice got consistently louder as she spoke.

"I can't blame him for Vince either. It was a team effort for what happened there, and don't you dare give me that look. He made the decision to go with you. It wasn't your fault. But when Brian let you go... it sort of made up for everything, you know." She took a very deep breath, choosing her words carefully.

"But he's the reason Vince and Leon never came back here. They blamed him, and because I was with him, they cut me out too. And Letty," her voice began to crack.

"He is one hundred percent responsible for her. He knew that her being undercover was dangerous; he knew something could have happened. He took my family away again. And here, I was thinking that everything was going to be ok again. I mean, when Letty came back, this were alright for a while."

"I don't want someone like that in my life Dom. I don't want to be with someone who wrecks everything," she finished fiercely.

He understood where she was coming from. There had been many times since that last fatal truck jacking that he had blamed everything completely on Brian.

"Ok fair enough, I'm not going to argue with you on that but Vince and Leon cut me out too, they cut Letty out, it wasn't just you! And Mi, when you hear what I gotta say, you might just change your mind.

They were interrupted then by a knock at the door.

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Brian O'Connor approached the door to the Toretto household with care. He wondered why he was here. Brian had last seen Mia Toretto the day Dominic was sentenced to twenty-five to life. She had made it pretty clear then, that she never wanted to have anything to do with him again. However, this afternoon he had received a call, not asking but telling him he needed to meet her as soon as he could.

Mia invited him inside and he walked into the living room when he stopped suddenly.

Dominic Toretto was sitting in the lounge room.

Dominic Toretto was supposed to be in a correctional facility.

Dominic Toretto was waiting for him to make the first move.

"Dom."

"Buster."

"Don't you have somewhere you should be right now?"

"Do you have something you want to tell me right now?"

Brian's face was blank.

"They let me out O'Connor. And we have to talk, let's go into the kitchen."

"They let you out?" Brian asked disbelief dominating his tone.

"I said, let's go into the kitchen." Dom repeated firmly, despite sounding like a suggestion, there was no room for argument.

Once in the kitchen, Dominic and Mia sat down at the table waiting for Brian to do the same. He hesitated before doing so but sat across from Mia.

While waiting for Brian to sit, Dom was trying to work out how he was going to tell them what he had heard that afternoon. It was going to be difficult, probably more difficult explaining than hearing it.

"I had a, uh, visit this afternoon from the FBI. I really just want you to listen first, ok. What I am going to tell you will shock you but just listen." As he started to speak his eyes focussed on his sister. It was going to be difficult for her more than Brian and he wanted to ensure that he didn't upset her by choosing the wrong words.

"They offered me a deal. I have to find a 'person of interest', that was the term they used, and bring that person in for questioning. If I can find this person, then my record is cleared and I'm free!"

"That doesn't sound so bad, Dom, I mean, what's difficult about that," Brian interrupted not able to control himself.

Dom cleared his throat.

"They gave me a photo of the person I am to find and they made it pretty clear that this person wouldn't be in trouble, or locked up or anything. They just want to talk to them."

Mia and Brian both nodded but Mia had not spoken since sitting down.

"Is it dangerous?" she asked softly.

"I don't know, they said there is a possibility that she could be being followed by other people too." He slipped up by using the word _she. _

"_She?" _Mia repeated.

"Sorry, I am all for women and men are equal but that surprises me. Why can't they go get her themselves? I don't understand why you need to be brought into this, especially seeing as this could potentially be dangerous."

"That's what I said too Mia." He took another deep breath. "Then they showed me the photo of who I'm supposed to find."

He had one of the four photos with him, the one where her face wasn't hidden underneath dark glasses. He placed the photo on the table, looking at it again as if it were the first time he'd seen it.

"Letty." She whispered.

"Holy shit! Dom are you saying she's alive." Brian asked.

"That's what they say."

"Dom, how?"

He could see that his sister's eyes had filled with tears but she continued to stare at the picture not saying a word.

"Look I don't know the full details on what happened. The Agent said that _they have reason to believe she's alive," _he mimicked.

"They believe that she didn't die in the car accident. She basically said she has been on the run since though, they can't catch up to her. They want me to bring her in so they can talk to her. Then, we've both got clean records."

He continued to explain the Braga situation to them. He could tell that this information had even surprised Brian slightly, but not completely.

"I'm only going to ask you this once Brian, did you know about Letty?"

Without looking up Mia sensed the steely tone to Dom's voice and she realised how monumental his anger would be if Brian knew.

"No Dom, I swear." He was shaking his head and his eyes were wide.

"So what happens now?" Mia asked. The situation felt surreal.

"Agent Lee should get more surveillance on Thursday and we will meet then. Then I think, it's up to me to go find my girl."

It was then that Mia's tears fell. Not out of happiness or sadness or surprise. She cried for her brother. She cried for the reasons that Dom couldn't or wouldn't. Out of everything that had happened in their life, with the team, the trucks and leaving for Mexico, losing Letty had been the hardest. There was no better match for Dominic Toretto, not that he had ever seriously looked. She cried because she knew that he was distancing himself from the situation. She knew that if something were to happen and if Letty wasn't really alive or worse, if she were killed, that Dom simply wouldn't be able to cope.

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Brian didn't stay long. After listening to Dom he had said that he would organise some help. He had a friend in Miami who could assist them in finding Letty and Brian was adamant that he could be trusted. Brian said he would return in a couple of days. He left without speaking directly to Mia.

After he left, Dominic and Mia Toretto spent what was left of their evening reminiscing in the kitchen.

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Dominic woke up the next morning with glorious sunshine streaming through his curtain. He hoped that it wouldn't be a regular occurrence but for now, it was perfect!

It was quite early in the morning, before 8, when he dragged himself out of bed.

Mia was already awake drinking coffee. She must have heard him trudging down the stairs because there was a steaming cup set aside for him when he reached the kitchen. He grunted a thank-you towards her; he really wasn't a morning person!

Mia was in the middle of cooking a hot breakfast when someone began knocking on the door. It stopped for a second, and then began again, louder this time.

"Who is knocking on your door at this time of the morning?" Dominic could switch into protective big brother mode very easily.

She shrugged her shoulders because she had no idea.

The knocking quickly turned into urgent banging. Someone really wanted to speak with one of them. Dom answered the door hoping to scare off whoever was about to intrude on what was shaping up to be a nice morning.

"I, I'm sorry, I really am..." Agent Lee stood dressed very similarly to the day before. She held a takeaway coffee cup in one hand and another large envelope in the other.

"It ain't aThursday!" Dom gruffly replied not moving from the doorway however his voice held no malice.

"I know I know, but this couldn't wait," she raised the hand holding the envelope and gave it a little shake.

"May I come in?"

He stood aside granting her entry and led her to the kitchen. He introduced Agent Lee to his sister and sat down taking a sip of his coffee. He looked at her expectedly.

"Surveillance came back early," she smiled. "And I have some good news but there's also some bad news."

"Bad news first!" Both Mia and Dom said.

"Ok well, we can't jump to conclusions or anything," she started, using her lion taming voice from the previous day. His insides clenched, he didn't like the sound of this.

"But she has company." Agent Lee finished biting her lip slightly.

Mia looked instantly to Dom, knowing what that could possibly mean. Letty either was being followed by someone else or she was with someone.

"What type of company?" he growled at her.

"Uh male uh company. But like I said we can't jump to conclusions yet. We haven't been able to ID the male in the photos yet but when we do, we can go from there."

While she was speaking Dom had left the table and moved into the kitchen. He wasn't facing the two girls but they could hear him taking slow, deep breaths. A sign Mia knew meant that he was trying to control his temper.

"What's the good news? " Mia asked hoping that the news was indeed good and would change her brother's mood.

"She's back in the States. Well, they are. They travelled together across the border. At least now it will be easy to find her, well uh, easier."

Despite hearing that Letty was closer that he had originally thought, Dom couldn't get past the fact that she was travelling with someone. He didn't know what they fucking meant by _she has company _but there was one possible meaning he understood very well. Had she found someone else?

"We need to move quickly." Agent Lee said. "Despite the uh friendliness of the photos, identifying the man is our number one priority. There is always a chance that he could actually be working against her, not with her." She was going to continue but was interrupted by an angry roar.

"What do you mean _friendliness of the photos_?" He yelled, he was close, so close to the edge.

Agent Lee sighed; she wasn't enjoying this and could see how explosive he was.

"Look they haven't been examined yet, the photos I mean. They were forwarded to me this morning, directly to my home. I made a copy and dropped them to the office where they should be working on identifying the man. Then I came straight here. But in the photos, they look very, um, comfortable with each other. Remember it could all be a ploy, she could be in danger."

He didn't want to do this or be here.

There was pure fury running through him. Why did this happen?

He vaguely heard Mia ask to see the photos to which Agent Lee consented.

"The first few ones are of her alone, she finds her new friend halfway through and then there are a few photos at the end of her in the States."

He heard the shuffling of photos.

_. . .she could be in danger..._

He was completely torn. On one hand he was blind with rage at the fact that she was with another man. She would have some fucking explaining to do when he found her. On the other hand, he hoped that whoever this person was, he wasn't a danger to her. He couldn't lose her again.

"Are you going to look?" Agent Lee asked gently.

"Dom." Mia spoke softly at the same time.

"Do you think I want to fucking look?"

"Dom."

"You shouldn't be getting me to do this. You do know the second I get close enough, I'll kill him."

"Dom, look."

"I don't want to look Mia." He yelled and then he shook his head and turned away. He didn't mean to take this out on her. He rarely raised his voice to his sister.

When he turned back around she was holding one of the photos in front of her, a very small smile gracing her face.

"Mia, I don't want to see tho -" he stopped suddenly looking at the photo.

No. It couldn't be.

He stepped closer taking the photo from her hands. Agent Lee watched on, confused.

The photo showed two people walking towards a car. Letty stood closest to the car with her back towards it. Although they had not been formally examined, Dom could she was in a defensive position. She was arguing with the man who appeared to be walking towards her.

"That's the only really clear shot we have of him. He's like her! We couldn't get near him."

Dom's eyes focused on the man in the photo. He had bulked up quite a bit since Dom had last seen him. His brown hair as messy as ever was slightly longer too. He wore a dark blue muscle shirt and had his right arm raised as if pointing to something. It was his right arm that was the deal breaker. A large tattoo covered his shoulder and halfway down his bicep. Then the tattoo became messy. Dom could see the silvery shine to a large, winding, scar which wrapped around his bicep and down his forearm.

The man's face hadn't changed, matured maybe, but it was still the same. Very short facial hair covered most of his face. Dark brown eyes were staring Letty down.

"Mr Toretto, do you know who this man is?" Agent Lee asked hurriedly. "If you do you need to tell me right now, we need to find out who he's working for and if he is dangerous.."

"He ain't a danger to her." Dom's voice had softened slightly but there was still an edge to it. "He ain't a danger to her," he repeated a little more gently.

"This is uh, Vincent Moretti, he doesn't answer to Vincent though, call him Vince."

Agent Lee was furiously scribbling down this new information.

"Do you know him?"

"Yeah, well I did. It's been a while." Dom's voice was back to normal having calmed down considerably since he recognised who Letty was keeping around for company.

"Well, do you know where he is now, contact details, address, phone number? Anything?"

"I said 'It's been a while'. I don't know anything anymore."

The conversation he had with Mia the previous day ran through his head quickly ..._almost ten years and nothing is the same..._

"Ok well then, where was his last known address?"

"Here. His last known address was here." His voice lowering as he remembered when Vince lived in this house with him.

Agent Lee left to make some phone calls. For her, this had been a productive morning. For Dom and Mia, it had been a rollercoaster ride.

"It's gonna be ok Dom." Mia moved to her brother who hadn't stopped looking at the photo.

In the photo they were arguing alright. To an outsider he could see how Vince could look threatening, hell, so could Letty. But he knew it was harmless. They were both extremely stubborn and neither were any good at agreeing to disagree. There had been many infamous Letty versus Vince arguments over the years. He and Mia talked about some the night before.

"Its gonna be ok." Mia repeated. "If she has Vince with her, you know that she's safe. He wouldn't let anything happen to her."

And in Dom's heart he knew it too. Vince would protect Letty with everything he had. That conclusion hurt Dom. Vince shouldn't be in that position. It should be Dom.

Vince had been his best friend longer than he could remember. The last time Dom had seen Vince was when he was being airlifted to the nearest hospital. He didn't even know what happened after that. He never returned home as Mia hadn't seen him again.

His mind began wondering again. It was going to be a long day.

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_**What did you think? **_

_**I am so so excited about this story. **_

_**Please please review if you have time. **_

_**I have loved hearing your thoughts on the story.**_

_**Thank-you for reading xoxox**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hey hey **_

_**Once again a big thank-you to all of those wonderful people who clicked the review button for chapter 2. **_

_**It is really rewarding to read your reviews.**_

_**I made a mistake in writing that Vince's eyes were brown not blue (thank-you for pointing it out **__**) my apologies.**_

_**Here you go. Fighting for Family – Chapter 3.**_

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Agent Lee remained outside on her phone for quite a while. Mia began cooking the hot breakfast again as the original menu had spoiled.

Dom remained where he was, although he was no longer staring at the photo of Letty and Vince arguing. He had flicked through the rest of the surveillance photos and had a few particular ones spread out across the table.

Almost a half hour later Agent Lee returned to the kitchen. Mia offered her a coffee which she declined. She was looking at the photos Dom had spread out on the table.

There were two of Letty alone; one of her in a car and another of her crossing a road. Dom thought that the backgrounds in these photos looked familiar.

"Where are these taken?" he asked.

"The Dominican Republic about three weeks ago. She seems to go there every now and then. We haven't worked out why, it's like she's looking for something."

Agent Lee missed Dom's eyes closing momentarily.

"She's good though, she'll always head to the same area but always at different times. There's no pattern to her movements."

There was another photo that Dom had chosen out of all the rest. Letty and Vince were both inside their car this time and the photo appeared to be taken as they were crossing the border back into the States. Vince was driving and had his middle finger raised to the camera and Letty's face was hidden from view.

"What about this one?"

"This was is from last Friday but we only obtained it late last night. I have the latest details on your friend if you're interested."

Mia came to where they were speaking clearly interested in an update on Vince.

"Vincent Moretti is 33 years of age. He served a 4 year sentence in Lompoc Correctional Facility from March 2002 to January 2006, he was let out early for good behaviour. Since then he has not maintained employment for more than one year and has moved around a lot. He does not live anywhere near here anymore. This is his latest address." Agent Lee finished and gave Dom a piece of paper with the address jotted neatly.

"Before I leave I need to ask one more thing. How sure are you that Vince Moretti is not a threat to Leticia Ortiz.

"I bet my life on it. He won't hurt her."

"You told me that it had been a while, that you didn't know anything about him anymore. How do you know that he hasn't changed? Nine years can do a lot to a person."

"I bet my life on it," Dom growled slowly emphasising each word, not liking the assumptions being made about the man who once was his best friend.

"Ok, if you're sure. Look here is my contact number. If anything and I mean _anything _starts to happen you are to call immediately. I want to be kept in the loop. I will be in touch."

She left without a good-bye, good luck or thank-you. Dom assumed it was because she was pissed that he wasn't going for the 'Vince is dangerous' notion.

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The address that had been given was unfamiliar to both Mia and Dom, and there was probably a reason for it. It was now clear that Vince hadn't returned to the fort on purpose, instead choosing to forego all of his belongings and start fresh. Dom couldn't help but think of how much he must have fucked up for his friend not to return home.

Mia searched the computer to find directions on how to get to Vince's place. Both Mia and Dom realised that he might not even be there anymore, but it was a starting point and they had to go. Mia found directions and was surprised to see that it would be quite a long drive. She showed Dom who asked that she print it.

"So what's the plan?"

"Plan? There's no plan Mia, I'm gonna go for a drive, ask him where Letty is and then I'll come home. I don't think Vince is gonna be in much of a talking mood though."

"You think it's gonna be that easy! I don't think so. Besides, I'm coming too."

Dom didn't particularly want his sister joining him, not that he didn't want her company but he had a pretty good feeling that his relationship with Vince was going to get worse before it got better. He knew Vince had a very soft spot for Mia back in the day and he wasn't sure what her appearance would to do the situation. But he hadn't spent time with Mia for quite a long time and the positive of her company outweighed the potential negativity.

He nodded at her still somewhat uneasy about her taking this trip with him. Who knew, maybe Mia would be able to help.

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After a very long four hour drive and after being convinced by Mia to stay in a motel for the night Dom was very eager to get things happening. Mia had a good argument to stay; it might take more than one visit with Vince to find out where Letty was and how to get in contact with her. She was not open to driving four hours there and back each day. The surveillance photos were from five days beforehand and Mia suspected that Letty wouldn't be staying with Vince, that she wouldn't risk it.

As it turned out Vince's house was less than five minutes from the motel.

They pulled into the driveway of a lowset house which was nothing out of the ordinary. Mia double checked the address and they were in the right spot.

It was a quietish street, not a lot of traffic and no noise. The exact opposite of where the fort was.

Dom stepped out of the car first and Mia moved to follow.

"Just gimme a sec Mia. I'll see if he's here."

Mia didn't acknowledge him verbally but stayed at the car gripping the door out of nervousness.

It surprised Dom how calm he felt as he walked towards the front door.

He knocked solidly three times and took a step back, silently praying that they had the right place.

He heard moving around inside but the door remained closed.

Dom moved forward to knock again but just before his fist could hit the door it was pulled violently open.

To say that Vince was surprised was a huge understatement. It wasn't often that people came knocking at his door and he was ready to give some lousy salesman an earful.

But this, there was no way he was prepared for this. He remained still blocking the doorway, left hand still holding the door handle.

Both men stood appraising the other, nether keen to make the first move.

For Dom, Vince had always been his best friend. Vince always had Dom's back, regardless of who or what the situation involved. The loyalty and friendship there was unlike nothing he had ever come across anywhere else. It was gonna be a hard fight to earn it again. Dom realised standing here before his old friend that he wasn't just here to find Letty. No, the situation changed when he found out Vince was involved. He was here to get his brother back too.

Vince on the other hand had very mixed emotions. He hadn't seen Dom for many years but seeing him right her brought back a myriad of emotions that he thought he had dealt with. It was like he was hanging off that truck again, yelling for Dom to get him off yet it never happened, it wasn't Dom who saved him. It was the Buster, the buster who royally screwed all of them.

Vince wanted to hate him, hate him with everything he had, but he couldn't. He had never blamed Dom for what had happened on that truck. He and Leon almost craved the adrenalin rush more than Dom. No, it was the abandonment that hurt.

His eyes automatically found Mia standing next to their car.

Neither one had spoken yet. They were shaken from their reverie when they heard Mia's door close. She walked steadily towards them. She was extremely nervous, not exactly sure how Vince would treat her, but that second she could care less how he felt. She moved in front of Dom and stared at Vince.

There was a time where this man cared for her deeply, and her stupidity of not knowing what you had until it was gone ruined any potential romance. It wasn't that she wanted romance in her life now, or necessarily wanted him in her life in that way. She just wanted him to know that he had been missed.

"Sup, Mia," he croaked.

It didn't matter how angry he was about being left behind, or going to prison while everyone walked. It didn't matter if he was glaring daggers at Dom or cursing the buster. He would never hurt Mia on purpose.

Before he knew what was happening he was almost tackled at the door by her hug, it was as if she lunged at him. He wouldn't hug her back though, that was getting too close. Too close to the world that he had left years ago.

Mia pulled away from Vince. She knew it must be hard for both boys but she was getting sick of the staring. One of them needed to make a move.

Vince stood aside motioning for them to enter. He could see that there would be yelling, a potential push and shove too and he knew what they would end up talking about but all of this was not going to happen on his front porch.

Both Dom and Mia entered Vince's house. He led them to the lounge room where all three sat.

"You live here alone?" Dom asked. At least making a half arsed effort.

"Yep, live by myself. There ain't anyone here." Vince replied pointedly. "I thought you were supposed to be locked up?"

"Things change."

"What're you doing here Dominic?" Vince asked harshly making it clear that at that moment, they weren't friends.

"We came to see you, to catch up."

"You're a bit late aren't you? Four years late for the catch-up talk, eight years late for pretending to give a shit."

"Don't. Don't you try and make it sound that you were forgotten or not cared about." Suprising both Dom and Vince, this came from Mia who looked particularly upset.

"The hell I wasn't." Things were heating up very quickly.

"You all upped and left the second the heat was too damn hot. You wanna catch up? Alright, let me bring you up to speed. I was in hospital for about five months with a god damn guard at my door ensuring that no one came in and no one came out. Like I was some badass criminal! Then it was straight to the Lompoc for me. I stayed there for four years. Four years of my fucked up life which I ain't gonna get back while I'm pretty damn sure you all were living it up in Mexico. Then I get released early. Yeah thats fucken great, especially when you have no place to go. Don't you dare fucken come into my house and have the audacity and say that you came to catch up because it's clear _brother," _he spat, "that you haven't given a shit before now."

Throughout the outburst Dom remained silent, understanding that Vince, being a bit of a hot head, needed to get all of it off his chest before they would be able to move forward. Mia was taken aback by the ferociousness of Vince's voice and felt instantly ashamed for not trying to find him.

Vince was breathing heavily after his rant but it felt good to have it off his chest.

"You feel better?" Dom asked no hint of anger evident in his voice.

"Yeah." Vince breathed, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "You wanna beer?"

Dom nodded and Vince went to get Dom a beer.

Mia was giving Dom incredulous look clearly surprised at the turn of events.

Vince returned with a drink for Dom but although his anger had disappeared there was still a hint of cautiousness in his eyes.

"What's going on Vee?" Dom asked after taking a long sip.

Vince smiled roguishly. "What do you want to know Dom?"

"Made any interesting trips across the border lately?"

"I think you got some explaining to do too. You first."

Dom explained the whole situation to Vince, who, sat stoically and listened to it in it's entirety.

"Is she ok?" Dom asked with a softness in his voice that was reserved only for Letty or when talking about Letty.

Vince smiled, almost forgetting the strength of the Dom/Letty relationship and to what extent Dom would go to protect her.

"Yeah, she's good. She knew someone was following her though, I don't think she expects you though." There was more Vince wanted to say particularly on the matter of Dom leaving Letty but he figured that it could wait for another time.

"I wanna see her." Dom said standing, indicating to Vince that he wanted to be taken to her right now.

"That's nice. When you find her tell her I said hi." Vince stood up too.

"This ain't a game Vee, take me to her."

"I don't know where she is. She wanted help crossing the border, that's it!" Vince roared. "We came here and then she left. Said she'd get in touch. That's all I know but don't come into by house and start barking orders."

"Mia let's go." Dom forced out through gritted teeth. He knew Vince was telling the truth, there was no denying it. He hadn't meant for his temper to get out of control and his escalating temper contributed to Vince's.

Vince didn't walk them out, he refused to.

_Shit, that didn't go well._

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Back at the motel Dom was pacing the room. He really didn't get any information out of Vince. Only that Vince helped her cross the border. That wasn't going to help at all. Fuck. If he was going to find her he needed to keep his temper in check.

He grabbed his keys telling Mia he needed to go for a drive to clear his head, he didn't know when he'd be back.

He was gone before Mia could reply.

Mia had a feeling that Dom wouldn't be returning to Vince's anytime soon, his anger was still fairly rife.

Mia grabbed her keys to the room and began the short walk back to Vince's. She was sure she could keep her temper in check a little better than Dom.

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She knocked on the door fairly softly, wanting Vince to know that it wasn't Dom returning for a round two.

The door was pulled open again and he was not as surprised as earlier. He moved aside to let her in.

They walked into his lounge room again and they both took their seats.

"Why didn't you come home?" She couldn't help but ask. She was here to help Dom find Letty but this was bubbling to the surface and she needed to know.

"It wasn't my home Mia." Although his voice was soft there was a gruffness to it.

"What bullshit!" she said standing up. "It's been your home since you were nineteen. Don't you dare tell me it wasn't! You had your own room, all your stuff was there, your life was there. Why didn't you come home?"

She took a deep breath as if to calm herself. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell."

"It's ok, seems like we're all a little emotional at the moment. Mia, what would you have done if, four years ago, I walked into the house as if nothing had changed? Huh?"

She didn't answer because she didn't know.

"I knew Leon had gone, he'd come to visit me a couple of times my third year in. Grapevine said that Dom and Letty hadn't come back, so what. You think you would have been happy living with me in that big old house. No, you wouldn't, and there's no point in telling me otherwise. I made it easier for you and me. I left."

"Vince it was your home, it is your home. I wouldn't have asked you to leave."

"Yeah well, you wouldn't have asked me to stay either. Besides that feels like another lifetime ago. Plus I kinda thought that you and Buster boy would have been all married up or something. I wasn't staying to watch that shit."

"Vince you don't have to worry about him, he's not and wasn't for that matter, an issue."

She really didn't know why she wanted him to know that she wasn't seeing Brian but she needed to make it clear to him.

"I swear, if I ever see him again I'll kill him."

Mia's eyes widened at his tone. There was something there, a stronger hate than before, something that she didn't know about.

"Vee, what aren't you telling me?"

"I thought you woulda known. Letty was working with Brian to..."

"Yeah, we know that, he told us."

"He told you?" Vince asked sceptically.

Mia told Vince the story of how she and Dom found out about Letty's little deal with Brian. As she finished her story she noticed how Vince's hand was clenched around his Corona bottle.

"What."

"Once a buster, always a buster."

"What."

" Fucken dammit! What's with you Toretto's and trusting people you shouldn't."

"What."

"He's lying to you." Vince yelled. She could tell he was frustrated because he was waving his hands around as he spoke.

"Did your little friend tell you about his and Letty's back up plan."

Mia's face whitened.

"No. Didn't think so. He and Letty had a plan if things started to turn sour. If things started to go wrong, or looked like they were, he told Letty to go to some safe house and he'd meet her there. Then he'd work on getting her out. The thing was, when things did go bad she headed there, waited for two fucken days and he didn't show. That's when she started on her own. He was supposed to meet her there."

Mia hadn't said a word. Vince wouldn't lie to her. The only way he could have known that was if Letty had told him. Letty had trusted Brian and was now on her own because of it. Mia felt sick, how could this happen again. What was Dom gonna do?

"How come you didn't tell Dom this?"

"Didn't get much of a chance, did I?"

"We gotta tell him, and anything else you know."

"Yeah, I know, I was waiting till I calmed down a bit, you know. And he needed to too."

"Come, on. Let's go find him."

She pulled him out of his house by his wrist like it was the most natural thing in the world. In two days she had regained two parts of her family back, and despite the rough situation they were all in, after their talk, she was going to enjoy a nice dinner with her brother and his best friend.

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_**Thank-you for reading.**_

_**The next chapter won't be too far away. **_

_**Please review, I love reading them xoxoxo**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hi **_____

_**Thank-you to the lovelies who reviewed the last chapter **_

_**Hope you enjoy chapter 4 **_

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Mia and Vince did not need to wait long before Dom returned to the motel. He had calmed down considerably and had planned to head straight to Vince's to clear the air and settle things properly. But, he figured that Mia would have been upset if she wasn't invited, so he headed back to get her.

His eyebrows rose slightly when he walked into the room to see Vince sitting on the uncomfortable looking couch.

Vince nodded his head in acknowledgement and Dom could hear Mia in the kitchenette making drinks.

Dom closed the door gently before making the first move.

"Are we cool?"

For once in their lives, Dom's and Vince's roles were reversed. It was no longer Vince looking to get the approval of his lifelong friend but the other way round. Dom needed Vince to know that he wanted things to be ok and he needed to know that Vince wasn't planning to hold a grudge for too long.

"Yeah, we're cool."

There was never going to be a sorrowful sob session filled with apologies and promises of making things right. They had been through too much to do that. It was probably the worst situation they had ever, and would ever, be in, however this was a good starting point. Both figured it would take a while to get back to where they used to be, and in saying that, there was a possibility that things would never be the same. Although, neither would admit it, both had considered their friendship unbreakable.

"Dom, we gotta talk." Mia said, bringing Vince a drink.

Dom nodded in reply. He and Mia moved to the small living area of the motel room.

Mia hinted for Vince to begin.

"Alright, whatever. Just don't shoot the messenger alright? It's about O'Connor."

Both Mia and Vine saw Dom's body tense.

"Look I don't know the full details alright, only what she told me. Letty said that when she began working with Brian and after she had gotten into the first race that Brian set up a safe house for her. If something went wrong or whatever, she was to go there and wait for him, then he and his FBI buddies would sort it out. When the shit went down with the drivers and she escaped the car accident, she headed to the safe house, but Brian never showed. She said she was there for 2 days and then headed off on her own. She figured that something was wrong, but that's when she started running."

Dom hadn't said a word while Vince was speaking and had remained quiet afterwards. He had a gut feeling that Brian hadn't been telling the truth about Letty, especially after talking with him the day before.

He just shook his head mentally kicking himself for falling for Brian's shit again.

"We'll deal with him when we see him."

Dom began pacing the room, trying to work off the anger which was starting to seep throughout his body. He couldn't believe he had been played yet again.

"Is she ok?" Dom asked again, except this time he planned to keep cool and not lose his temper when talking about his girl.

"Yeah, she's alright. She's Letty, you know. Not completely happy with changing houses every five minutes but you know. She's dealing."

"Yeah, when she find you?" Dom asked needing to know more.

At this Vince laughed slightly.

"Honestly man I don't know. But suddenly my phone starts ringing all the time and someone keeps asking for Vince Moretti. I kept on hanging up you know, not knowing who it was. On the third day before I could hand up this chick yells down the phone saying _that if I hang up on her again, she's gonna forget twelve years of friendship and jump down the phone and beat me with it. _Then I figured I knew who I was talking to. That was about a week ago. She asked me to help her cross the border and the rest is history."

A comfortable silence fell across the three but it was soon interrupted by Mia.

"Look I figure this is going to be a long night of talking. But before everyone starts having yelling matches again, I would like to have a nice dinner ok, together, all three of us."

There was no way either man was going to deny Mia a family dinner. It was surprising to all three, how easy things happened. They each fell into their old roles easily, arguing over what takeout they should eat and whether to eat in or bring it back. It was just what Mia wanted. It felt like family.

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After a delicious dinner and a couple of drinks later, Mia had turned in for the night and Dom and Vince were left talking. They were keeping to safe topics but had started to talk about what had happened since they'd seen each other last.

"I really fucked things up Vee, didn't I?"

Vince laughed loudly. "No you didn't brother, we all did. But nothing we can do can change the past. No one blames you, Leon doesn't, I don't, and you know Letty doesn't. This is just how shit turned out."

"The trucks were no biggie, and from what I hear, heists work with gas tankers too." Vince pointedly commented. "The only thing that I wish would have changed was what happened to Jesse. Nothing else."

This was quite a serious conversation but Vince knew that Dom needed to hear these things and Vince needed to be the one to do it. Letty had talked to him about this almost a thousand times, so did Mia and Brian.

"How was Letty afterwards?"

Dom winced at the image of seeing her Civic crash through his side mirror.

"She was ok, Leon got her to the hospital pretty quick. A broken rib, a little banged up and that was about it. You see much of Leon?" Dom asked.

"Uh, not a lot. He came and saw me a couple of times towards the end in Lompoc. He calls in every couple of months. Haven't seen him in while, bout due for him to visit actually, won't he be in for a surprise."

"He never went back home," Dom told Vince.

"Nah, he said it was too real then, what happened to Jesse was too fresh. Then he said the longer he stayed away, the harder it was to go back. In the end he never did. He said he always wanted to though."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Dom agreed.

"Our little team wasn't that tough after all?"

"Oh, we were tough, we just didn't stay together," Dom defended.

"Man, I still wouldn't do anything differently. Except, I wouldn't get my arm stuck again." Vince huffed.

Dom just stared. He had always thought the opposite. That if he had the chance to go back before it all started, he would never have started the heists. But hearing this from Vince surprised him.

Vince could sense Dom's surprise.

"Come on man, you had Letty at your side these past few years, well for most of it anyway. You haven't actually spent time on your own. Leon, Mia and I all have. Let me tell you, it sucks. Like it or not, once the team disbanded our lives turn to shit. Sometimes I sorta want that back."

"You sound like Mia."

At this, Vince laughed. He got up to collect them both another drink.

"That just tells you I'm right then, doesn't it. Hell, ask Leon, we'd both do it again, in a heartbeat. Maybe not Mia though."

Both men chuckled.

This was going better than Dom expected. Vince was actually being way too forgiving in his opinion and he wondered what he would do if it were him in Vince's position.

"She talked about you you know." Vince started, he felt as if they had cleared the air a bit more and could talk about Letty without difficulty.

Dom remained quiet but looked at his friend.

"She uh, found out what you and Brian did to that Fenix fella, she was surprised you came back.

"Had no choice, Vee, you know that."

"She'd do it all over again too you know."

Dom laughed, "Man I don't think so, look how shit turned out. Especially with her."

"Don't be stupid, of course she would. She'd be the first one to sign up. She's with you on everything."

"She's pissed at me isn't she, Vince?"

"Oh you bet your ass she is." Vince laughed. "And while we're on the topic, you left her?"

"Yeah, not my greatest hour. I did it to protect her. She's gotta know that."

"Nah man, the way she said it, it's the opposite."

"Hmmm."

"Oh come on man. Dude she knows you better than you know you. It's been like that since you first got together."

"When you left her, you made her doubt herself, doubt you. For the first time in her life, she didn't have your next move pegged and it scared the shit out of her. When you left, she thought it was her. That you left because of her, didn't want her."

"That's ridiculous" Dom growled, not liking at all what he was hearing.

"She said when she went back home and planned to bring you back she had a feeling that you didn't want to be with her and she got scared. She couldn't move on with her life not knowing. She had this idea of you partying it up without her."

Dom was shook his head in disbelief.

"Don't worry man, I set her straight. Told her that was all bullshit. She yelled at me, full on man, like in the old days. Telling me, what do I know, that I don't know shit coz I haven't been around. We got into this big argument in some car park over it."

Dom smiled slightly knowing now what the argument in the photo was about.

He couldn't believe he had made her doubt his love for him. That wasn't what he meant to do at all. He left in order to protect her. He always protected her, not that she needed it. She had meant and still means absolutely everything to him. She was his weakness.

"Dude she ain't your weakness." Vince said gruffly.

Dom was shocked as he must have said the last part out loud.

"What?"

"I said, she ain't you weakness, never has been. She's your strength; she's what keeps you going. It's always been like that since you were seventeen, before you even got together. You're shit without her and you know it."

The conversation had begun to get a little deep for both men and neither had a desire for it to continue. So they began to talk about light topics for the rest of the evening before Dom went to bed, and as if nothing had changed, Vince fell asleep on the couch.

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When Mia entered the living area of their room the next morning, she was stunned to see the number of bottles which were scattered around. She smiled at the memory of cleaning up after numerous post-race parties back in the day.

She began to collect the bottles which clinked together as she picked them up.

She heard him groan before she saw where he was.

"Vince?"

"Mia, shhhh."

She smiled, happy that he had stayed.

"You want breakfast Vince?"

It was a stupid question, she knew, but laughed when he roused almost instantly at her question.

"Mmm yeah, sounds good."

Mia stopped cleaning and headed into the kitchenette. She paused when she heard the clinking of bottles and was amused to see Vince cleaning up the rest of his and Dom's mess. Some things have changed.

Mia was able to make a very quick breakfast of eggs and toast. She kept some on the hotplate for Dom when he woke up.

She and Vince sat at the small table and began to eat. After the first mouthful, Vince moaned.

"Oh, god this is good."

His intention was to compliment Mia on a job well done however, as he spoke he could see her body tense and she had stopped eating.

"Wha-" he said with a full mouth.

"Do you know how long it has been since someone has complimented my eggs?"

Vince shrugged, trying to figure out how his compliment went wrong.

"The last person to compliment my eggs was Leon and that was eight years ago."

"Ok... Did you not want me to compliment your eggs?"

"No."

"Was my compliment not good enough for you?"

"No. That's not it."

"Well Christ Mia, what do you want?"

"I want you, Leon and Letty to come home!"

Vince sat in his chair stunned. How did talking about eggs turn into this.

"I want my family back. I want to live with people and not be alone.."

"Mia, I'm alone, so is Leon and Let-"

"You're alone by choice, well maybe not Letty. But you and Leon chose to live on your own. You two didn't come back. I never had a say in it. One day I was in a family of six, the next day I'm solo."

"Mia, look we didn't ever me-"

"I want to live in a house full of people again. I want to hear laughing and fighting. I want to argue with someone over who had the remote last. I want to have family barbeques again. I want to have someone who asks where I've been or where I'm going. I want ... Vince I miss the old days."

"Mia, you hated the old days. You hated when the remote wasn't left on the coffee table. You hated cleaning up after a barbeque and you couldn't stand it when we asked you what you were doing."

Mia just sighed, a little embarrassed that she got so carried away with her outburst.

They were interrupted then by Dom entering the room. He had heard the conversation but did not mention it as he sat to eat his breakfast. Mia would get what she wanted when he found Letty.

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Dom and Mia decided that it was time to head back home. The both hinted for Vince to join them but he refused outright but he did insinuate that he might visit soon.

Before they left Dom and Vince discussed what would happen with Brian. Both agreed that they needed him to ensure the deal Agent Lee was offering was carried through, but neither liked the idea of him hanging around; he had been the cause of too many fuck ups.

They talked about Letty. Vince said that it was just a 'wait and see' on his part. He had no idea where she was or how to get in contact with her. When she did contact him he was to let her know what was happening. Mia was a little unsure of how Letty would take the news about being trailed by Dom. Vince told Dom to be prepared for some serious work to get back into her good graces and not to expect to get laid anytime soon but in the end it would all work out.

Mia and Dome were home in the early afternoon.

When they arrived home they were greeted by three figures.

Dom recognised one of the men and the woman. Mia only recognised one of the men.

It was Brian and he seemed to have returned with his 'help'. The man sitting on the steps was bald like Dom and built as well however his skin was very dark and he was forcing a large cheese burger into his mouth. He didn't look like he wanted to be there.

Dom recognised the woman easily. He knew Gisele had stopped working for Braga and had helped him and Brian however Dom was not pleased to see her. He wondered what the hell Brian was thinking bringing her here. He had a very strong inkling that her being here would cause trouble. The only reason Brian was getting help was to ensure he could find Letty quickly, how much of a help would Gisele be?

Mia instantly disliked the woman standing behind Brian. There was no denying her beauty but Mia could see the way this woman was eyeing her brother and Mia didn't like it.

"Dom."

"Brian."

"This is my main man from Miam, Rome Pearce. Rome, this is Dom and his sister Mia."

"Hey man," Rome replied lazily with a full mouth, bumping fists with Dom. Mia gave him the smallest of smiles.

"You know, Gisele, Dom. Gisele, this is Dom's sister Mia."

"Lovely to meet you," Gisele replied kindly.

"You too," Mia said.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Brian?" Dom asked forcefully walking into the house.

Brian followed closely behind him.

"Look man, before we talk, I just gotta tell you. Gisele doesn't know what's up."

"Excuse me?"

"She doesn't know about Letty. She found me at a race last night and when Rome let it slip we were coming here she wanted to come to see you too."

"That's your problem Brian not mine, deal with her. I have other things on my mind."

"Yeah I know man and I got a plan. The first thing we need to do is find out if Letty really is alive, I mean we –"

"She's alive."

"Dom, look I know you want her to be but-"

"She's alive, Brian." Dom spoke through gritted teeth.

"We need proof Dom, not just you wanting –"

"I got all the proof I need."

"What, have you seen her?"

"No, but I know someone who has."

"Who?"

"Vince."

Brian chose not to respond as he knew anything to do with Vince would involve him skating on very thin ice.

"Now Brian. You and I need to talk." Dom said firmly.

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Dom and Mia didn't drop Vince back home when they left. He insisted on walking. It had been a crazy twenty-four hours and he needed to do something physical. He was lost in thought as he approached his house and didn't see the person sitting on his front porch.

He opened his front gate and began walking up the path only to be startled by a voice.

"And where has this ole coyote been at this time of the morning?"

The man who spoke had, liked Vince, bulked up considerably over the years but chose to accentuate the muscle by gaining more tattoos. He kept his facial hair short and still wore a silver chain around his neck. There was a seriousness to Leon Madden which hadn't been there when the team was together.

"Look who's just in time for the excitement?" Vince said grabbing his hand and patting his back, Leon returning the favour.

"Excitement huh, do tell?" Leon replied following Vince inside the house.

"Man, you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Oh, I dunno princess; I've been hearing some things. Would it have anything to do with a hot little Latina who suddenly sprung back into our lives?"

Vince stared in shock.

"She went to see you?"

"Yeah man. Told me what's been going on."

"Well there you go. What's she doing now?"

"She said she's planning on heading home, getting a message through to Dom and Mia and then she said she's disappearing. She said something about how she thinks she's being followed. Doesn't think it's safe to hang around or some shit."

"And where does she think she's gonna find Dom?"

"Lompoc. She said she's gonna call you tonight. She wants us to go with her, you know, make amends or whatever."

"Well, that ain't happening. "

Vince told Leon what had happened over the course of the past day. Vince included everything. He watched how Leon tensed when he was told about Brian's involvement and leant back in his chair when he was told about Dom and the FBI. He told him everything about his few days with Letty although Leon knew most of it. He included his and Mia's talk this morning about eggs and Family. When he was finished Leon sat motionless.

"I think we're heading back to the fort pumpkin?"

"Yeah, I figured you might say that."

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_**Things are starting to come together **___

_**I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I am looking forward to reading any reviews and thoughts **___

_**Thank-you for reading xoxoxo**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hi everyone, **_

_**Thank-you again to all of my reviewers **__**They really and truly make my day.**_

_**I also forgot my disclaimer (oops). I do not own, or claim to own any part of The Fast and the Furious Franchise. I am writing for enjoyment only. This applies to previous and future chapters.**_

_**Here is chapter 5...**_

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"Brian, why do I feel like I am always giving you chances huh?" Dom managed to ask.

The truth was, once he stepped out of the car with Mia and his eyes focused on O'Connor, he saw red and was having a very difficult time trying to control his temper.

"Whattya mean, man?"

"Brian, this is your chance, right here, to tell me everything about Letty that you haven't already told me. And Brian... make sure you tell me _everything_."

It was clear that Brian knew what Dom was asking about but he still withheld the information and remained silent.

This only made Dom angrier.

"Brian, did you set up a safe house for Letty?"

"Yeah man, but look-"

"Did you actually go there and see if she was there?"

"Yeah, I did, look Dom, just list-"

"No you didn't!" Dom roared at him, banging his fist against the nearest object which happened to be the wall.

"If you did you would have found her. If you did, she'd be here."

"Dom, I went there, I swear. It was three days after the accident. I went there as soon as I could. I was being watched like a hawk after it happened. I couldn't go anywhere! When I went to the house she wasn't there, hell, it didn't even look like she'd even been there. What would you have done?"

"What would I have done? What would I have done? I would never have had her in that position in the first place."

"Yeah, because jacking trucks is really safe isn't it?" Brian spat back unable to help himself, sarcasm his only way to handle the situation.

Dom had Brian held up against the wall before Brian could even blink, Dom's forearm pressed firmly under Brian's chin. The tension was paramount.

"You said you were being watched?" Dom spoke slowly and controlled.

Although still being held Brian released a sigh, Dom had chosen to ignore his last comment for the time being.

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"FBI, Lee told me that they had put a couple of guys on me just to see what I was up to."

"Why?"

"Coz of you. They think anything that has to do with you or your team clouds my judgement or something. And when they thought Letty was dead they thought I dunno, I'd do something. I dunno! Look Dom, I couldn't go to the safe house with a trail. We didn't know if Braga had eyes or ears inside and I couldn't risk her being discovered. So I waited it out. Honestly."

"I think I believe you too much O'Connor." Dom said releasing him slowly. He was in no way satisfied with Brian's excuse but could see part of his reasoning. Basically he was back to square one.

They were interrupted by the slamming of the front door.

Mia walked towards the two men and despite looking held together and calm, she was the complete opposite.

"Brian," she began, "would you like to tell me why your walking talking Barbie doll wants to go do something because she's bored."

Brian looked to Dom for support but received nothing.

"Mia she doesn't know why Rome and I are here, she just tagged along."

Once upon a time Mia was the most accommodating out of the team, she was kind in nature and was polite to others outside of their family however their current situation changed all that.

"Then why did you let her tag along? Oh and by the way apparently you two know each other and she plans to get to know you better." Mia turned on her brother.

Before Dom could even explain to Mia who Gisele was she began bombarding him with questions.

"How do you know her, Dom? In fact how long have you known her, Dom?"

"Mia, relax. Gisele was a liaison for Braga and his drivers. She stopped working for him in the middle of our deal when he tried to run her over. She even helped us find him, after that she took off. It was pure coincidence that we even ran into her, I swear." Brian intervened trying to calm the situation.

Mia had stopped speaking and ran things over in her head.

"So you are telling me," she said very slowly, "that this _woman_ worked for this Braga, the same Braga who organised to kill Letty, and you have brought her to our house right when we are trying to find Letty?"

Dom sensed Mia's worry.

"Basically, yes."

"Coincidence my ass, Brian! Don't you think it's a little funny that just when we find out Letty is alive, this chick who used to work for Braga shows up?"

"Mia, I know what you're thinking, but it's okay. Maybe she can help us?"

"How can she help us if you haven't told her why you're here?" Dom's voice rumbled.

Dom knew that he would have to tell Mia about Giselle's advances when he made Braga's driving team. He had surmised that Gisele wasn't exactly pleased with his dismissal and didn't take no for an answer, especially seeing as she was sitting on his doorstep planning to get to know him better. It was most likely better that Mia heard it from him rather than coming to her own conclusion on the matter.

"I will tell her man, I will. We just came here first, you know... Speaking of which, um, I figured it would be best if we were all together, you know, if we have to move quick or whatever."

"What exactly are you suggesting?" Mia all but hissed.

Dom interrupted before Brian could say anything.

"You want to stay here?"

Mia shook her head unable to verbalise her current thoughts.

"I just think maybe that if we were all together we would be able to work better, more efficiently." This was going nothing like Brian had planned.

"I have a condition." Dom said.

"Dom!" Mia said outraged, not wanting outsiders in her home, and surprised that Dom did.

"We get agent Lee in here to talk to her, before you go telling her why you're here. I don't want you to give her a chance at running off if Mia is right in why she's here." The fierce protectiveness in his voice was obvious.

"Done! I have no worries with that. Call her now."

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Agent Lee was preparing her first coffee of the day when she received a phone call from Dominic Toretto. She hadn't expected to hear from him so soon but after he explained the development of his search party she understood why.

Gisele Harabo had a clean record, had not even been given a speeding ticket but that wouldn't stop Agent Lee from talking with her.

If Giselle cooperated then the FBI would be a step closer to finding out who really ran the Braga drug cartel, on the other hand if she didn't, it meant that there was a possibility that Gisele was still working with the drug traffickers.

Both Dom and Agent Lee agreed that it would be best if Giselle wasn't told about Letty until they were both certain she would work with them and not against them.

Agent Lee transferred her fresh coffee to a travel mug and headed towards the Torreto's.

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When Agent Lee arrived there was an uncomfortable feel to the Toretto household.

Mia was ignoring Dom still unhappy that he was going to allow Brian, Rome and Gisele to stay in their home. Dom was not completely happy with the situation either, but he would rather have Brian, Rome and Gisele for that matter, where he could see them. Rome and Gisele were making small talk.

Agent Lee and Brian greeted each other politely and Brian introduced her to Giselle and Rome. Neither, were impressed and meeting a FBI agent.

"Miss Harabo, I would like to talk to you if you don't mind."

"What about?" Giselle replied shortly, glaring at Brian.

"Your involvement with Arturo Braga specifically," Agent Lee returned her shortness.

Gisele looked stunned for a second but regained her composure nodding slightly.

"Where would you like to talk?" She asked to the amazement of Dom, Brian and Mia.

"Kitchen okay?" Lee asked Dom.

Dom nodded.

Agent Lee lead Gisele to the kitchen and when Brian made a move to go to she told him that he wasn't needed.

"You dealin with cops again Brian?" Rome asked roughly.

"Nah man, I used to work with her."

"Yeah, once a cop always a cop Brian." There was attitude to Rome's comment that made Mia smirk lightly.

Gisele and Agent Lee were in the kitchen for some time.

When they emerged they were met by expectant eyes.

Agent Lee motioned for Dom to go into the kitchen.

Before he had entered the kitchen he heard Gisele demanding to know what was going on.

"She seems clean," Agent Lee sighed. "She told me everything she knew which wasn't much. She seemed genuinely surprised that Braga wasn't running the show so she wasn't able to give us any intelligence there but you know, we have more of an insight to how Braga ran things which might help us somewhere."

Dom nodded along to what she was saying.

"You got any leads on Letty?"

"I got a question for you?" Dom asked disregarding her question needing to ask something he had being thinking about for some time.

"Shoot."

"Why is this so important to you?"

"What do you mean, this is a big case?"

"No, I'm not talking about the case side of it; I want to know why you pushed so hard for me to be released, why you fought for me to be the one to help you find her?"

"Who better to find her than her own boyfriend?"

"That's bullshit and you know it! You are taking a big damn risk and I want to know why? If you expect me to be honest with you than start talking."

Agent Lee sighed and was clear to Dom that she was frustrated with him.

"I have known about your case for a long time, Dominic."

"How long is long?"

"Eight and a half years."

"Start talking."

"Ok, I was still studying and was about to begin my internship at the FBI. I was one of like 3 people so it was a bit of an honour. During my internship, trucks were beginning to get jacked, millions of dollars worth of merchandise gone overnight. A couple of months went by and a few suspects were narrowed down, you being one of them."

"O'Connor was about to go undercover, he was a few years ahead of me, we didn't know each other and he'd finished his studies by then, but he wasn't the only one undercover. At that stage there were about 5 different suspects and a few undercover agents were scoping things out with other groups. I was placed undercover with a field agent to go to street races and just keep eyes open that type of thing."

"I had never been to a street race before and I was absolutely blown away. That type of culture was completely foreign to me, it was just crazy. I remember seeing you, I knew your face from the suspect files and there were girls everywhere, you had their attention the second you arrived and you didn't even have to talk to them. No other guy there got that type of response."

"When they started to approach you I honestly thought, oh yeah, typical player. But suddenly there was this dark haired woman stepping out of this car and you looked instantly to her and those other women disappeared. You spent the rest of the night with your arm around this girl and I was absolutely amazed."

"I was only able to go out that once and it was a good experience. But I was fascinated by your reaction. Some things you remember for a long time. Peoples relationships are just fascinating. Then the Braga case came up and when Brian brought in this gorgeous dark haired street smart driver to go undercover I knew instantly it was her, Brian filled in a few gaps."

"When we thought that she was killed I began watching your sister, it was an order." Agent Lee argued seeing Dom tense.

"We had the phone tapped and I remember listening to the conversation when she told you about Letty. I honestly don't think that payphone is the same, I swear I almost heard the phone being ripped out of the box."

She stopped giving Dom the chance to say something if he wished but he didn't.

"You know the rest. It just amazes me how despite all of your illegal activities and all the bullshit that is around you, you are totally and completely taken by this one woman."

He was shocked at her story and funnily enough didn't like being reminded of how good things used to be.

"So this is like a pet project of yours?" He asked unsure of whether he was pleased or not at her revelation.

"No, it's just a bonus of sorts."

"You're still taking a damn big risk."

Agent Lee just laughed.

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When they left the kitchen Dom was confronted by an angry Gisele.

"I want to know why I am here?" Her accent making her demand seem significantly harsh.

"I don't know why your here, but I will tell you why I'm here. Letty's alive, and I'm gonna find her." Dom spoke calmly.

"Impossible." Gisele countered. "Fenix killed her."

"No not impossible," Agent Lee showed her some of the surveillance photos.

"Do you even know where she is?" Gisele asked looking at the photos.

"No, but we know where she's been. She crossed the border back into the States as of Friday," Mia said.

"Why are you involved?" Gisele asked Agent Lee, ignoring Mia.

Agent Lee explained the deal that she had made with Dom regarding finding and speaking to Letty in order to gain their freedom.

"If I didn't know anything, she wouldn't. You're wasting your time."

"There's the door." Dom said pointing. "If you want to help fine, if you don't, leave. No one's forcing you to stay."

Gisele chose to stay.

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Mia went to organise where everyone would be staying. Dom would have his room naturally. Mia had moved into their parents room a couple of years earlier, it was bigger than her own. There were two spare bedrooms upstairs, however only one had a bed and that once belonged to Vince, and also the basement where Leon and Jesse used to stay.

It was a given that neither Rome or Gisele would sleep upstairs which meant that room was allocated to Brian. She would set up the cots in the basement for the other two.

While she was doing so, Dom came to give her a hand.

"I got an idea." He said softly so the others wouldn't hear him, wanting to hear what his sister thought first.

"What?"

"I'm thinking that we plan to head to the races tomorrow night."

"Mmmhmmm." Mia smirked, she had wondered how long it would take her brother to bring up street racing.

"No not like that. I was thinking that if you called Vince and maybe mentioned races tomorrow night he might head down. I'd like someone I can trust around, I think."

"Thanks Dom." Mia sarcastically replied.

"You know what I mean."

"You think he'll come?"

Dom looked at Mia like she had grown another head. "Yes Mia, he'll come."

"Alright then."

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"What do I say?" Mia whispered to Dom, she was extremely nervous as she keyed in Vince's number. He answered the phone before Dom could reply.

"Hello?"

"Vince?"

"Mia?"

"Yeah, uh how are you?"

"The same Mia, it hasn't been that long." He said not meaning to be abrupt.

"Yeah, I know, umm, I was just calling to let you know that we got here ok and all. Um have you heard anything?

"What?"

"From Letty, have you heard from her?"

"No, not from Letty." Vince said.

"Oh ok, well I just thought, maybe you know. Umm I guess it's just wait and see hey?"

"Yeah, I told you I'll let you know anything that I know."

"Yeah I know, I just, needed to check. It's been a big couple of days."

"Yeah."

"We just gotta take our minds off things."

"Sounds like a plan."

"We're uh, racing tomorrow."

"What?"

"To take our minds off everything, Dom's planning to go to the races, I don't think that he's planning to race but you never know. It'll be a distraction."

"Races huh?" Mia had his attention.

"Yeah, we'll see what happens. It's the same as how it used to be but just no clear cut favourites each week."

"No hot shot team hey?"

"Nope."

Mia could hear another person talking in the background. It was a male voice and he heard Vince whispering to him to be quiet. She thought nothing of it.

"Vince, I'm gonna go, I'll check in with you in a couple of days if that's ok."

"Yeah ok, cya."

"Bye." Mia hung up.

"So?" Dom asked.

"He was interested but Dom I really don't think he'll come. He'll wait to hear from Letty first and who knows when that will be?"

"Mmmm, I guess we just gotta hope that she calls him today then don't we?"

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Leon almost dragged Vince back to the fort after their conversation that morning. But, in the end, Vince convinced him that they needed to stay and wait for Letty before making a move and he agreed, both wanting to make sure their friend was okay.

After hearing Vince's conversation with Mia, Leon looked at Vince.

"Go on dawg, try and tell me we ain't goin racin?"

"I ain't going anywhere till I here from Letty."

"Come on man, we'll go and come back after."

"You telling me you're gonna go back home, race, have a small catch up with Dom and Mia and then expect Mia to let you leave? That ain't happening brother, and you know it."

The phone began to ring before their argument could escalate.

"Hello."

"Vee, look I gotta be quick." Letty's husky voice rushed.

"Let, look, I gotta talk to y –"

"Vee, I'm being followed, I'm heading back tomorrow morning, gonna see Mia real quick. Then I'm gone."

"Let, you don't understand, I've seen-"

"Is Leon with you?"

"Yeah but that's not it. Letty a whole lotta shit is happening – Letty!"

"Yeah man, look I gotta go. Are you coming with?"

"Yeah we are but –"

"Vince, I gotta go."

"Letty, you need to listen to me."

"Vee I'll just find you at home tomorrow okay. Bye."

"Letty?"

"Fuck it!" he roared when he realised she had gone without him explaining anything to her.

"What's going on?"

"She said she's being followed. Didn't let me tell her anything."

"Where is she?"

"Dunno. She's heading to Mia's in the morning? Then said she's gone."

"Is she okay?"

"I dunno man, she was stressin."

Vince and Leon were two men who rarely worried about things. They were both easy going and the only main difference between them was Vince was a bit of a hot head while Leon remained calm in most situations. However, over the years, both men grew to become fiercely protective of Mia and Letty, not to the extent of Dom but very close. Their handpicked family was tighter than their own immediate families and both were surprised how quickly those feelings of family returned after such a long absence.

"I think we head back tonight. Try and find her before she finds Mia, dawg? All hell will break loose especially if she sees Brian hanging around."

"Yeah man, I know."

"Come on princess, we're going home."

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_**Well how was it?**_

_**I'm still loving this story are you? REVIEW PLEASE xo**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hi **_

_**I am terribly sorry for this shockingly long wait. There's no excuse **_____

_**A very quick note – for some reason when I uploaded the last chapter I wasn't alerted when reviews were given which meant that I could not reply to any of the signed ones. I hope whatever the problem has been fixed but I have read every review (more than once **____**) and they mean the world to me I just wasn't able to reply though.**_

_**Thank-you heaps **____**.**_

_**Here is chapter 6.**_

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It was later on in the afternoon that Dom found Mia in her room lounging on her bed. He figured they needed to have a one on one talk before things started getting out of hand. Something inside him sensed that it would soon.

He was released from prison with the sole purpose of finding Letty, and she was all that consumed his thoughts. However, he wasn't going to hurt or upset his little sister in the process.

"There's more to the story isn't there?" Mia asked as Dom sat down.

"What story?"

"The Dom and Gisele story."

"Mia, there is no Dom and Gisele story."

"Well then why is she here?"

"Mia, I don't know, I didn't invite her."

"No, but you invited her to stay in our house."

"No Mia, I didn't do that either, Brian did all of that."

Mia did not respond for a few minutes working out how she was going to word what she was going to say next.

"Have you seen the way she looks at you?"

"No." Dom said, and truly he didn't.

He remembered a somewhat close encounter in the Braga's garage when he had found Fenix's car but after he set her straight he hadn't given her a second glance. His mind was and, still is, consumed by another woman. Dom knew the type of woman Gisele was and it was nothing like his type of woman and she never would be.

Gisele was that type of girl who commented on his love for Letty, then kiss his cheek seductively trying to show him what he was missing out on. He wasn't missing out on much.

"Dom, she's here because of you."

"Well then Mia, she's going home empty handed isn't she."

"Dom, did anything happen between you two?"

"No, Mia. I set her straight right from the beginning. She's not my type of girl."

"Did you tell her about Letty?"

"I told her I wasn't interested. I figured Fenix told her about Letty after he found out who I was."

"Does she know about Letty?"

"She knows about _me and Letty_, Mia." Dom corrected. "I made it clear I ain't interested."

Mia believed him, there was no doubting his love and dedication to her friend. Mia sometimes found it difficult to remember times when Dom and Letty were not together. But despite this, she had a really bad feeling about Gisele being in their home and really needed Dom to understand why.

"Dom, what if Letty shows up."

"Then it saves me finding her."

"Dom," Mia let out a frustrated sigh. "What if Letty shows up here and sees Gisele?"

"Nothing Mia, nothing will happen." Even as he said it he didn't completely believe himself

His conversation with Vince the night before came back to him suddenly.

"_When you left her, you made her doubt herself, doubt you. For the first time in her life, she didn't have your next move pegged and it scared the shit out of her. When you left, she thought it was her. That you left because of her, didn't want her."_

If this were the same situation but ten years earlier he knew that Letty would claim what belonged to her, him, and let nothing stand in her way. She wasn't afraid of confrontation or making a scene. She would make sure that everyone knew that Dominic Toretto was not available and Dom had once revelled in her possessiveness in the crowds.

He reacted to her getting attention in exactly the same way, except, he had to resort to physically showing the punks sometimes. It was clear to all males in the racing world that touching, hell, even looking at Letty would result if physical pain.

That was a long time ago.

They'd both grown up, matured slightly. Things weren't the same.

But now, if Letty for whatever fucked up reason, truly believed that he didn't want her, need her then he had an inkling that, especially seeing as she was being followed, seeing Gisele around may be the final straw in pushing her away completely.

He was damned if that was going to happen.

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The afternoon wore on and Mia could not wait for everything to be over so her house_ guests _could leave. Brian, she didn't like but could have him in the same room as her. Rome, despite seeming friendly enough, did not stop eating and each time Mia walked into the kitchen, she was tidying up after him. Gisele was in a league of her own! To Mia, it seemed as though, although not saying anything, Gisele radiated disapproval of the Toretto home.

Mia was in the kitchen making dinner for a house full of five when Dom, Brian, Rome and Gisele entered the kitchen.

Dom went to the fridge to grab a drink leaving the others standing at the door.

"Mia, do you mind showing us where we are sleeping tonight?" Brian asked gently.

Without turning around to look at them Mia replied. "You're upstairs in Vince's room," Mia made sure to stress exactly whose room he would be sleeping in. "Rome and Gisele are downstairs where Leon and Jesse slept."

"Downstairs?" Gisele repeated.

"Downstairs... the basement". This time, Mia turned to Gisele as she spoke making in clear that she was not exactly welcome to stay, even in their basement.

"Are you sure there's nowhere else for me to sleep?" Gisele asked, her eyes turning to Dom.

"No, there ain't." Dom answered in a deadly straight voice. Mia relaxed slightly and returned to making dinner.

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Mia had just finished serving dinner and was about to let everyone know it was ready when Gisele entered the kitchen.

"Look, I don't know why you're here but I know what you're up to. If you try anything with my brother, understand that you will be out of here faster than you can blink."

"Mia," Gisele began patronisingly. "You're brother has made it clear that he is not interested."

"Oh, I know." The menacing tone that previously laced Mia's voice had now gone. "It's just for some stupid reason, it seems as though you didn't listen."

Mia left to get Dom, Brian and Rome for dinner, completely ignoring Gisele who appeared somewhat shocked to be spoken to like she was.

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Mia had just finished washing up the dinner plates after an extremely uncomfortable dinner when Rome came in, and opened the fridge.

Mia took a deep breath hoping that he was just getting himself a drink.

He wasn't.

Rome had his hands full of ingredients to make some after dinner snack when Mia began taking them out of his hands and putting them back in the fridge. She heard knocking on the door front door and hoped Dom was around to get it.

"You had two platefuls of pasta for dinner. My kitchen is clean and I feel like I have been cleaning up after you all day. No more."

"Come on, man. I'm hungry."

"I don't care if you're hungry. If you knew how to clean up after yourself than it would be fine but you don't. So I'm saying no!"

"What am I supposed to do... starve?"

"You know I don't think you will actually starve but I'm willing to put it to the test." Mia turned back to the dishes and began to dry them with the nearest towel.

Rome began to argue with her.

"No, the kitchen's closed. I'm not your mother or your maid." Mia spoke over him. "This kitchen is not in use not even for a damn sandwhich-"

She was cut off.

"Oh come on Mia, we came all this way and we can't even get a sandwich. Can't we all just get along?"

It was a voice she hadn't heard in years, followed by a gruff laugh she had heard that morning. She turned slowly, feeling like she couldn't breathe, like her mind was playing a horrible trick on her.

By the time she had turned around fully, Rome had left the kitchen, but she wasn't alone. Leon and Vince were standing in the entrance to the kitchen and the sight made her heart clench but at that moment she didn't know the true reason why.

Leon had her engulfed in a giant bear hug before she could say anything. Her eyes remained on the other man who was smiling at his friends antics.

With tears in her eyes she understood. They'd come home.

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.

.

While Mia and Leon were catching up in the kitchen, Dom pulled Vince aside.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you, but... is everything ok?"

"You wanna talk about this here," Vince asked, nodding his head towards where Mia stood.

"Vince." There was a warning tone in Dom's voice but that meant nothing to Vince. Vince knew that Dom was worried and that he knew something was wrong because having Vince and Leon show up randomly was not part of the plan.

"Garage?" Vince asked.

"Garage", Dom agreed.

The two men headed quietly outside unaware that a pair of eyes watched them from an upstairs window.

"What's happened? You heard from her?"

Vince was not looking forward to telling Dom about Letty's phone call knowing how his friend would react.

"Yeah man, I heard from her. She called about ten minutes before we came here."

"She all good?"

"Nah, man. I don't know the full story, I was on the phone for less than five minutes ok. She rang, said she's being followed."

Dom's fists clenched.

"She didn't tell me who it was or where she was. Said she's heading this way tomorrow and that she's seeing Mia."

Dom was waiting for more.

"Then, uh, she said she's gone".

"What do you mean _gone?" _

"That's what she said man. I tried to tell her about you, but she kept talking over me. She was rushing and it sounded like she was driving when she called."

Vince gave Dom and opportunity to talk but he couldn't speak.

"Leon and I decided to come here and hopefully find her before she leaves. She said she'd find us."

"Ok".

"Ok? That's all you gonna say, _ok" _

"Yeah."

"_Ok_?"

"It'll be good Vince. This way, I don't need to go find her. She's coming to me."

"That's not necessarily a good thing though, considering your present company," Vince nodded his head towards the house, "and by the way, she don't even know that you're here."

"Vince, we're racing tomorrow night. I guarantee that's where she'll be."

Vince wasn't so sure.

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.

.

The next 24 hours were the best that Mia had had in such a long time.

She enjoyed telling Brian, Rome and Gisele that they now needed to sleep on mattresses in the lounge room as Vince and Leon were here to claim their old bedrooms.

Mia, Dom, Vince and Leon had spent most of the night catching up, the mood was kept light and at one point Leon and Dom left to talk. It was their turn to mend bridges.

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.

.

It was nearing the time to head out to the races and she could tell that Dom, Vince and Leon were excited. However, there was something else too. They had been tense and uptight all day. Not in a grouchy way but they were very short when speaking. Something was up.

Dom hadn't told Mia about Letty. For some reason it was hard to admit that this may be the only chance of getting his old life back and the pressure of losing Letty again was too strong.

It was 15 minutes before they were leaving for the races when he told her. Mia had reacted the same way he did. She figured too that since it was a race night, Letty would show up there first, especially if she was trying to lose whoever was following her.

Unfortunately when Rome heard that they were headed out to see the races, he invited himself, Brian and Gisele along. Neither Dom nor Mia liked this. Dom hadn't told Brian about Vince's phone call from Letty, he didn't trust him anymore and wouldn't screw this up.

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The race scene hadn't changed at all, only some of the people. Cars of all makes and models lined the streets, hoods up. Music blared from speakers and small groups of scantily clad girls danced. It was like they never left.

Mia rode with Dom, Vince with Leon and the rest with Brian. The latter hadn't shown up yet, Dom and Leon had lost them on the way.

They got out of the car and Dom couldn't help the tiny grin which graced his face. This was, once upon a time, what he lived for. The sight and smells taking him back to a time when he was King of the streets. That time had long since passed.

He could see Hector's nephew taking bids and requests for the nights races. Dom knew Edwardo by face only and that wasn't enough to greet him in person, each man nodded towards the other. Edwardo knew who Dom was and so did a few others who cat called and whistled as part of the old team walked by.

Dom stopped suddenly and Mia almost hit his shoulder. He moved his head towards a small group of young males in their early twenties. One was mad, he was the one who got Dom's attention. The other three guys were laughing at him.

"Man, you got beat by a girl" they guffawed, finding the notion hilarious.

"Hey, you wanna race her, I'll go find her and you'll see. Not just a pretty face man, she was fast. I ain't seen her around before."

His friends continued to laugh. "And she was an older woman, maybe you need to get little mamma to give you some driving lessons."

Dom looked at Mia who had also listened to the conversation. A fast, older woman who hadn't been around before... looks like they were in luck.

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Letty had never shown up at a race alone before. Not that she was scared or intimidated, the thought had just surprised her. She had always shown up with the team.

Her initial plan was to head straight for the Toretto's and see Mia. She was almost there too when she had seen the telltale signs of racers heading towards a meet. Just one more couldn't hurt, could it?

She had even scored a street race on the way there. An easy win but it was a race all the same.

She stepped out of her car and rustled her hair so it covered her face a bit. She stood behind her car which was parked in front of a wall. She wanted to see who was getting too close to her and silently hoped that she hadn't been followed here.

Letty loved races, ever since Dom took her to her first one. It wasn't necessary for her to race all the time either, it was the atmosphere she enjoyed.

Letty had been scanning the crowd for almost ten minutes when she decided that it was probably time to leave. She was about to move to the driver's side door when she saw them.

Letty recognised Brian O'Connor instantly but that wasn't what bothered her. What bothered her was his company. Gisele walked closely behind Brian, too close to be a coincidence. She saw him turn to say something to her. What the hell were they doing here?

She grabbed her phone, abandoning her plan to leave. Gisele worked for Braga and now she was with O'Connor , this did not look good.

Vince picked up on the second ring.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Vee, what's O'Connor doing hanging around street races?" she asked keeping her eyes on Brian and Gisele as they walked.

"What, you're here? Letty look, I need to talk to you."

Letty heard Vince but what he said didn't register. She saw a man brush past Brian and Gisele but not before locking eyes with Gisele.

It was guy following her. He hadn't seen her yet and she was sure of it because he was walking away from where she stood.

"Vince, he's here."

"Who? Letty, I need to talk to you ok, don't hang up this phone. Who's here"

"I dunno, the guy who's been following me the past two days."

"Where are you?"

"Vince?"

"You're at the races Letty but where, let me find you."

Vince silently indicated for Mia to get Dom quickly and follow them. He and Leon began to look for Letty.

She gave Vince her location and kept the phone to her ear. In seconds she saw Vince and Leon across the mass of people.

"Who, Letty?"

"Hispanic, long hair, denim jacket to your left."

Leon saw him first. "I'm on it girl."

Brian and Gisele were approaching to where Vince now stood. Letty turned so she was no longer facing the group head on. She needed to get out of here.

"Hey, look, Mia's here ok. And there's something you should know-"

Hearing that Mia was here was all Letty needed to turn back around.

There she was.

Mia hadn't changed too much in the few months that Letty had seen her last. But it was the figure walking closely behind her which took her breath away.

Dominic Toretto had always had that effect on her. What he was doing, outside of prison, she didn't know but her stomach almost dropped as she watched the next scene unfold.

Brian reached the small group first and Gisele was a few steps behind but before she reached them she tripped and stumbled. She almost fell too if Dom had not instinctively reached out to grab her. He lifted her effortlessly and she laughed at herself holding on to his arms to steady herself.

It was the last straw.

Letty was about to demand that Vince explain what the hell was going on when he realised she had been spotted. The Hispanic man was headed towards her with Leon hot on his tail.

"Damn it Vee" Letty hung up. She didn't know what she was more angry about, Dom or having to leave.

Vince didn't have a chance to reassure Letty what she saw wasn't what it looked like and he too saw the guy who had been following her heading straight towards her with Leon close behind.

He hung up his phone quickly.

"Fuck!" He brushed past the others pushing Dom aside and headed towards where Letty had been standing. He just hoped that he would reach her before she left.

.

After Mia's first date with Brian, Dom remembered Mia telling him about the date and, in particular how she spoke about him and the team. He remembered she had compared him to gravity. Him! That he was the one drawing everyone to him. He hadn't corrected her, instead feeling slightly chuffed that this came from his own sister, but, she was wrong.

It wasn't Dom who drew things towards him, not even a little bit. It was Letty, completely and solely.

Letty had, even before they were together, affected him like no other girl ever had. Dom had always found himself searching for her during school, at the garage or at their old house parties but it was never intentional and he always told himself that he was just looking out for her.

She was like gravity, pulling him towards her and he never once put up a fight.

It was this gravitational pull that made him turn around.

Despite the fact that they were at the races, hundreds of people, music blaring but he could feel... something.

He turned around and saw her face a millisecond before it turned away from view. It was her.

Vince barged into him and headed towards where Letty had been standing, saying something gruffly but Dom didn't hear him.

It was her.

There was no doubt.

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_**Thank-you for reading **____** Please take the time to give a quick review **_____


	7. Chapter 7

_**Here is chapter 7 **_

_**Thank-you for reading. **_

_**I do not own, or claim to own any part of The Fast and the Furious Franchise. I am writing for enjoyment only. This applies to previous and future chapters.**_

_**I absolutely loved Fast Five and hope you all did too **__**Although it makes me think about this story differently (mainly how I now see different characters)... so the plan is to continue with this as it is now and also start a new one based on my Fast Five muses**_

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_He turned around and saw her face a millisecond before it turned away from view. It was her._

_Vince barged into him and headed towards where Letty had been standing, saying something gruffly but Dom didn't hear him._

_It was her._

_There was no doubt._

_._

_._

_._

There was hardly a delay from when his eyes saw her profile disappear from view and his feet began to move.

Dom vaguely heard Giselle and Brian calling out to him but he didn't care.

She was here, she was really here.

His eyes focussed intensely on the departing figure.

He wasn't sure if she saw him but he knew it was her. He felt that it was her.

He knew Vince was somewhere in front of him, but Dom couldn't see him but that didn't matter, she was here. He'd find her.

The masses of people soon became too much and Dom began to push his way through the crowd not caring slightly at the complaints the bodies made.

The adrenaline pumped through his body and it was unlike anything he had ever experienced. No race had made his heart pound like that.

This was all Letty, this was what she did to him.

She was so close yet he lost sight of her. He didn't know where she was, where she was going. He just needed to be a bit closer.

Vince's head finally came into view. Dom saw that he had begun to move faster, almost jogging so he moved faster too. Just a little more.

Ahead of him Dom saw Vince stop and move to the side suddenly, pushing someone into a wall of one of the buildings that the street races ran on.

Leon appeared out of nowhere.

Dom wasn't close enough.

A scuffle began but very quickly the boys were being pulled of the unknown body. By the time Dom reached Leon and Vince it was all over. Both Leon and Vince were huffing slightly which angry looks in their eyes.

That anger couldn't match Dom's though. He turned and scanned the crowd silently praying with everything he had that he would see her somewhere, but he didn't.

Vince and Leon had a lot of explaining to do. She'd gone.

Dom turned and began stalking back towards his car. It was the end of race night.

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.

"What the fuck was that?" Dom exploded once they were all back at the fort, unable to hold it in any longer.

Leon had closed the door behind them and unlike race nights of the past, there was no celebratory party and the room was deadly silent.

"You saw it, you know what happened." It had upset Vince too but Vince bit back, not caring whether his tone incensed Dom further.

It did.

"Do I, huh? Do I know what happened?" He didn't give them a chance to answer.

"No, Vee, I don't know what fucking happened? Throughout all this I haven't known what was happening." He took a moment to catch his breath. His temper had exploded and released some pent up anger and Dom was able to relax slightly.

"It was her wasn't it?" Dom asked calming at the mention of Letty. He didn't trust himself to say her name without it pushing him completely over the edge. He was so close to her, so close and now he was back here, alone.

"Hey that ain't my fault." Vince started.

"Yeah it was her," Leon intervened.

"What happened?" Mia asked from the lounge. Truth be told, all three men had forgotten she was there.

"She called." Leon paused.

Vince was still too worked up to speak calmly and didn't trust himself answering Mia without cussing at her. Despite all of these years, she was still a soft spot where he was concerned and frankly, he was already in enough trouble for not returning to the fort all those years ago. He wasn't pushing it.

"Yeah? " Dom said, wanting more that than half assed answer.

"She saw Brian and Giselle." Leon continued. Vince had filled him in on the ride back home.

Mia glared at Dom.

"Don't make me keep asking you to keep going Leon. What'd she say?" Dom growled.

Leon huffed in frustration. "She was pissed. She wanted to know what was going on. We were heading towards her then she saw her tail that's been following her. That's who we took after. We got in a few good hits too but it was broken up and he got away. She disappeared. We don't know where she went, what she was driving or nothing."

Leon stopped again and shared a look with Vince.

"What aren't you telling me?" Dom asked gruffly.

"She, uh, saw Mia we're pretty sure." He paused again.

"Yeah."

"We dunno if she saw you though."

Dom didn't understand why Leon hesitated. Vince was looked up at him too.

"She seemed a bit pissed before she hung up though."

Mia put the pieces together before the boys did. Neither Vince nor Leon would have seen the tiny interaction with Dom and Giselle and, if Dom were telling the truth about his lack of interest in Giselle, then it wouldn't have registered with him either. She remembered Giselle falling, Dom reaching for her so she didn't completely stack it. Knowing their luck that would be the exact moment Letty saw Dom.

Oh shit.

_._

_._

_._

Mia was the one to tell Dom what had most likely taken place. As they predicted he didn't take it well.

Not knowing how to deal, how to cope. Dom resorted in something he hadn't done in years. He took his problems out on others.

"You let her get away?" He boomed suddenly but looked directly at Vince.

"You think so do you?"

"You got another explanation for it? You tell me why she ain't here?"

"You want me to tell you why she ain't fucking here Dom, huh, do you really?" Vince began standing up.

"She ain't fucking here because of you." Vince roared back no longer caring whether he was swearing in front of Mia or not.

He didn't give Dom a chance to reply, ten years of anger were about to erupt.

"You left her, you fucking left her! You fucked up Dom. You. Fucked. Up. Not me, not Leon hell not even O'Connor really this time. You fucked up. You left her and this is how it played out. This is all on you," he shouted.

Vince turned and looked towards Mia. Her eyes were full of unshed tears, Leon stood next to her, a hand on her shoulder in comfort.

"Man, I gotta get outta here." He walked towards the front door.

Mia's tears spilled silently over.

Vince paused "Fuck man," his voice softened slightly but the gruffness remained, "be thankful you're getting a second chance." And he disappeared.

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No one spoke after Vince walked out. Dom tried to calm himself. He knew he was wrong to blame Vince but he had just assumed his old role and took it all out on his best friend.

"He ain't gone Mia." He said softly. "Coyote, just needs to blow off some steam. You know how he is."

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"Some things just don't change." Leon drawled as he walked out to the barbeque table Vince was perched on.

"You got some fixing up to do brother."

"With what? That ain't my fault Leon." Vince began to fire up.

"No man, but upsetting Mia is. Man you shoulda seen her, she thought you were taking off."

Vince just shook his head. Years ago he would have loved to get that type of reaction out of her. Now, well, it felt like it was too late.

The rumble of approaching cars grew louder and both Vince and Leon watched as Brian, Rome and Giselle returned home. The back door slammed just as they were getting out of their car and Dom made his way to the barbeque table.

Brian sensed it wasn't the best of times and he steered Rome and Giselle into the house. He'd find out what happened soon enough.

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"You always talked 'bout how if we were all in you're good graces or not. Huh? Remember that Dom?" Vince started first which shocked Dom and Leon.

"Well you ain't in my good graces at the moment."

Dom was about to interrupt.

"Nah man, let me finish. My priority is not you getting your girl back... It's making sure her ass is safe so that she _can _come back. You treat your friends like that's fine, but we family."

Dom could only nod in response; he didn't trust himself to voice what he was thinking. This past week and a half was really taking its toll on his emotions.

Looking at his brother Dom almost wanted to laugh at how their roles had changed from ten years ag. He was no longer the calm and controlled man who led a team. A team who were once closer than most families ever would be. Dom was now staring in the hot headed best friend role and Vince now held himself together better than ever before. It was Vince who would get him through this and would be by his side fighting once again.

Now all he needed was his woman.

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"I wasn't leaving."

Mia looked up at Vince who was standing at her bedroom door.

"Sure looked like it," she said not looking at Vince.

"Mia, I just got here, I ain't leaving yet. Too much excitement going around." Vince nodded his head towards the people downstairs.

His short apology over and done with, Vince headed back down the stairs. From what it seemed Mia wasn't in a talking mood.

However all Mia heard was one word. _Yet._

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No one was in the mood for anything. Mia stayed up in her room and Dom remained seated on the couch rerunning the nights events through his head. Vince and Leon were also in the lounge room however they weren't as focussed as Dom.

When they first pulled into the driveway Leon and Vince agreed that they would give Letty the night to contact them if not, their search would begin. Vince was sure Letty had seen Dom. She hadn't specifically called him on the sudden appearance of her lost love however her silence and cursing were clear signs.

She wouldn't leave yet, he was certain. The waiting game would begin again.

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It was past midnight when Leon decided that he was calling it a night and disappeared. Vince waited a few moments before doing the same. Before his foot reached the first step Dom spoke.

"If she calls.."

"You'll be the first to know," Vince finished. "This ain't over big man, you wait. She'll be good. Probably gonna beat your ass, but hey, at least you'll have her back."

Dom smirked and nodded at his friend. There was no doubt that it wasn't over. It would never be over until Letty was back in his arms. Then he wouldn't be letting her out of his sight. _Oh she'd just love that _he thought.

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2am brought the sound of a shrill ringtone calling into a quiet house. Vince grabbed it before it got to its second ring.

"Letty?"

"Boy you got some explaining to do?" She was pissed and he knew it. But now wasn't the time.

"Hey, I been trying to talk to you for days, you don't stay on the phone for more than a minute."

"Speaking of, times ticking Coyote. Tell me what you are doing staying at the fort with an ex cop and a drug lords PA."

"Where are you?" he asked just as Dom burst through the door with Leon close behind.

"You first."

"Letty would you stop being such a stubborn ass and tell me where you are?" He looked at Dom and Leon.

" Ah the hell with that, you're close enough to know who's in this house. We're coming to find you."

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Leon, Vince and Dom headed outside and scanned the streets for anything unusual. When they found nothing they decided to hit the streets and search for her. She couldn't have gotten far.

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"Mia, we're heading out in the cars, Brian's going with Dom, Rome and Giselle with Vince."

"Why are-"

"Dom don't want them here in case she comes here. Call me if she does." Leon raced out the door leaving a shocked Mia in his wake.

She locked the front door behind him and ran a hand through her hair as she listened to the three cars leave the driveway.

It felt like she'd been awake for hours. She turned and made her way into the kitchen with the full intention of making a nice hot tea which would get her through till the boys got back.

But things don't always go to plan.

Standing in her kitchen looking as if she had never left. Long dark hair framing her face and clad in black jeans and a tank, wearing an infamous _I'm smarter than _the_ boys _expression, there was Letty.

Mia's hand slowly raised to hear mouth covering it and tears began to pool in her eyes. It was that sight that made Letty's own eyes well with tears. The smirk never left the latina's face.

"Sup Mi?"

"Oh god Letty," Mia whispered rushing forward.

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_**Thank-you for reading. **_

_**What did you think? Please take the time to review **_

_**Can't wait to hear more about Fast Six too. **_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Yes it's been a little while but that's ok, because here is Chapter 8 for you **____** Please leave a review at the end...**_

_**I do not own, or claim to own any part of The Fast and the Furious Franchise. I am writing for enjoyment only. This applies to previous and future chapters.**_

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_Mia's hand slowly raised to her mouth covering it and tears began to pool in her eyes. It was that sight that made Letty's own eyes well with tears. The smirk never left the latina's face._

"_Sup Mi?" _

"_Oh god Letty," Mia whispered rushing forward._

_._

_._

_._

She could hardly, breath... or think...

She was here. Alive. Here in her kitchen. Mia held on to Letty with no desire to let go anytime soon.

Letty allowed Mia all the time she needed knowing how hard this must be for her closest friend. She couldn't imagine doing this herself.

Mia slowly moved to back to lean against the counter. Hand returning to cover her mouth as if afraid to speak. Letty nodded towards two cups of steaming hot tea which she had just made. She handed Mia her cup.

Letty looked on. She knew she'd have a little while; the boys wouldn't give up anytime soon.

"Letty, you'r... you're..."

"Alive, yes. Well I hope so if not you've got some freaky ass ideas of what an angel should be."

"Actually I was going to say you're in so much damn trouble..." Mia tried her hardest to lace her words with a hint of anger.

Letty's raspy laugh was like music to Mia's ears and it reminded her of how long it really had been. "Yeah. But I figured I have a little grace period before all that."

Mia nodded. There was no way to describe the feeling of seeing Letty alive and safe in front of her.

"They'll be back soon."

"Yeah I know. But I got a little while."

"I take it this is more business than pleasure."

"I got a photo for Vince," Letty said wasting no time.

Letty took out her phone and waited for Mia to do the same.

"Mia I want you to listen to me very carefully ok. This guy who's following me, he works for Braga."

"How do you know?"

"I didn't at first. I just thought it was some random but tonight at the races. He stopped to look at a few cars and I realised that's where I knew him from. He works for Braga."

"You mean worked?"

"Same thing isn't it? Look Mia you don't seem to be listening to me. He worked for Braga."

"Yeah ok, I get it, he's dangerous."

"Mia," Letty said more firmly, "can you think of anyone else who used to work for Braga hanging around lately?"

"What, no why would we have- oh. You don't mean?"

"Look I don't really care what reason she has for being here but listen to me. I _know _Gisele and this punk know each other. Does she know?"

"Know what?"

"About me?"

"Yeah, I made sure of that. She knows about how you and Dom-"

"No Mia, I don't give a shit whether she knows about me and Dom, he left he didn't want a 'Me and Dom', I want to know does she know that I'm alive?"

"Yeah." Mia said softly, mostly because she didn't like hearing Letty speak about herself and Dom like that.

"Mia, don't trust her. She's dangerous. They could be working together. And why we're talking about her, why the hell is she staying in this house?

Despite the serious of the situation Mia smiled and Letty's fierceness, at least that hadn't changed.

"That's Brian's idea, something about keeping enemies close or something. It wasn't my idea I assure you."

"And Vince and Leon were ok with it?"

"They didn't really care I guess, they weren't involved with Braga like Brian and Dom wer-." Mia stopped. She'd mentioned her brother and Letty didn't even flinch.

"Look Mi, I gotta go. They'll be back soon. I know you gotta tell _him_ I was here, it's ok. Just make sure they get the photo."

"Don't you mean _them?"_

"No, Mia, I mean _him. _He's not exactly hiding indoors is he?"

"You saw him?"

"Of course I saw him, not really easy to miss. He seems to be doing well." The venom in her words was not missed by either of them.

"Letty it's not what it.."

"Don't stick up for him Mia, don't you dare. Not after all the shit I've been through over these past few months. Don't you dare."

"I am not sticking up for him, but you gotta listen to me, Letty, you can't leave and not know what's really going on."

"Mia, I know what's going on, I got two eyes." She turned her back and began to walk towards the door.

"He's looking for you. He's out because of you." Mia yelled desperately.

That stopped her.

"Letty, I can't believe you leave this part of the conversation for the last five minutes."

"Out?"

"Goodness, I'm going to have to give you the short version ok and I mean the short version. So listen. When I found out, I mean when I got the call..." She struggled to say the words.

"When you got the call that I was dead," Letty offered.

"I was able to get Dom, he was here for the funeral, well not the actual funeral but he said he watched. He wanted to see where it, where you... the crash scene and it was like he became obsessed. He managed to meet up with Brian somewhere along the way and they somehow got into Braga's crew. Neither of them have told me everything that happened, either ashamed or scared for me I dunno. Dom found out that a driver, Fenix, was responsible for you."

Letty nodded at the mention of the name. She inadvertently shivered at the memory of racing away from Fenix, her car flipping...

"They took care of him, caught Braga and Brian thought that they were going to let Dom go, I mean, after catching their most wanted drug trafficker."

"They put him back in jail."

"Yeah, he'd been in there about three months when Agent Lee came to him. They had footage, pictures, of you, alive. They'd sent people to get you before but they never could." Mia was starting to get emotional whether it was because Letty was about to leave or the whole situation taking its toll on her.

"Agent Lee, she's really good. And she got Dom out. Made a deal with her. He's out looking for you Letty."

"Can't say I saw that one coming." Letty said as she leaned against the back door.

Mia let Letty settle her thoughts.

"Still don't change anything though, Mia."

Mia was about to interrupt but Letty held up her hand.

"I mean yeah it does but it doesn't. Gisele's is living in this house at the moment and I don't trust her, at all. I don't give a shit what he says, I didn't trust her when I met her and I don't trust her now. I can't stay Mi."

"Letty, you can, if you wanted to you can. Stop being so difficult. Just stay till he gets here. Till he sees you. He can protec-"

"What he can protect me but I can't protect him, protect you and Vince and Leon." Letty raised her voice.

"I'm not hanging around till some vato with a gun comes looking. This one isn't some low level scum like Jonny or Lance."

"God, Letty do you realise how alike you are. You're like the female version of him. Please stay."

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.

.

Mia was seated on the couch alone when they returned. Had been alone for the past 15 minutes.

They all came into the lounge area, defeated looks adorned their faces, even Brian's and Rome's, Gisele looked impassive.

They thought they were so close.

Dom took one look at Mia and sensed that she was not ok. It was weird that she wasn't waiting at the door when they arrived. He realised she was disappointed that they came back empty handed.

"You ok?" He asked.

Mia stood and walked into the kitchen, nodding her head for him to follow her. Vince and Leon also stood which Mia expected but when Brian made a move to stand she glared forcing him to just shift in his seat.

The kitchen doors swung closed behind Leon.

"We looked everywhere Mia." Leon began, "We just couldn't find her."

"Hmm you weren't looking in the right place then."

"Come on Mia, it wasn't that easy." Vince rubbed the back of his head out of tiredness.

Mia looked down on the bench and the two coffee cups sitting on the bench.

Dom, Vince and Leon waited.

Mia would have to spill it out for them.

"Two cups", she said.

Vince and Leon shared a confused look but Dom caught on immediately.

"She was here?"

Mia nodded smiling slightly. "You did exactly what she wanted you to do, she was in the kitchen by the time I'd closed the front door behind Leon and walked in here."

"She was in the fucking kitchen?" Vince asked. "While we're running all across town, she was in the fucking kitchen."

"Would you keep your voice down." Mia hushed.

"What's going on, Mia?" Dom asked.

"Yeah, she gave me this," Mia opened up her phone to show the guys the photo.

He must have gotten close for Letty to get the picture. Too close for Dom's comfort.

"How'd she get this?" Vince asked.

"I don't know, and I didn't ask. There's more. She said he used to work for Braga and that she's certain that Gisele knows him and that they worked together. She got really worried, doesn't trust her."

There was a silence in the kitchen.

"So what do we do now?"

"I don't know what we should do but I know what I want to do." Dom growled. Was he being played so they could get closer to Letty?

"I think we should ring Lee?" Mia offered. "I mean, Gisele lied to her before, maybe they can take her in or something."

"Do you think she'd come clean now?" Leon asked not really expecting an answer.

"I dunno, but Letty made it clear she is headed a long way away from here and won't be coming back anytime soon, especially with her around."

.

.

.

Agent Lee was not expecting to hear from Dominic so soon and especially so late at night.

She rushed out into her small kitchen and flicked the kettle on before she headed back into her room to get dressed. Lee made a quick coffee and called headed to the Toretto's .

She parked across the street and headed for the back door as she was asked to but she didn't need to knock, the door was pulled open.

"Two calls in two days, you're either really good or really not."

"Letty came here tonight." Mia said.

"Hmm, keep going, was she ok, is she uh, ok just keep going." Lee said calming her thoughts.

Dom let Mia relay the story to Agent Lee. Since he found out that Letty had been her, in his house he couldn't shake the utter disappointment and the overwhelming feeling of loss that happened all over again.

"How sure was she that Gisele knows her tracker?"

"She was certain. She said she wants us to be careful, then she took off."

"Ok let's go talk to her."

"Don't you wanna, like, do it on your own?" Leon asked.

"No, I gave her the chance to talk to me quietly about anything she knew, she didn't take it. Now she can have an audience. Doesn't seem like the kind of girl who'd mind."

Lee led the way into the lounge. Brian, Rome and Gisele were still sitting in the same spots they were earlier.

"Agent Lee." Brian said standing.

Gisele looked towards the where Lee stood but did not react in any way that showed the slightest bit of unease.

"To what do we owe this pleasure?" Rome grunted, knowing that he, Brian and Gisele had been kept out of something big.

"I'm here to talk to Miss Harabo again."

"Now?" Brian asked out of surprise.

Wasting no time Lee began, "Miss Harabo I would like you to tell me everything you knew about Braga and try not to leave anything out."

"I thought I already did," said Gisele standing up to defend herself.

"It appears that you may have not. Specifically, I want to know if you have seen anybody who worked in the Braga organisation lately?"

"What, no. I mainly worked with Fenix and Campos, well Braga. Nobody else comes to mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure. Why, what is with these questions, I thought we'd already been through all this?"

"Show her the picture." Lee asked Mia.

"This is who has been following Letty. He used to work for Braga."

Brian looked at the photo over Gisele's shoulder.

"He was at the races."

"How do you know?" Lee asked.

"Cop instincts. He was keeping to himself, looked like he was packing. I made a note. How do you know this is the guy that's been following Letty?"

"She told me." Mia answered.

"How she tell you?" Rome interjected.

"She came here, while we went out looking for her." Vince gruffled shaking his head.

Gisele shook her head and turned to Dom.

"I saw him last night, or this evening, whichever you prefer to call it. I didn't think anything of it Dominic, honestly. He's practically harmless. I met him once, his name is Carmon. He'd only been working for Braga for maybe a month, no more than two when Letty was recruited. I don't even think they did any runs together."

"Then you explain to me why he's following her?" Lee asked.

"I don't know, I don't know ok. This has nothing to do with me. I stopped working for Braga when he tried to run me down. What happened in those few days after, I don't know. I'm telling you the truth."

"What was his role?" Agent Lee asked.

"I don't understand?"

"His role, what he did. What did this Carmon do when he started working for Braga?"

"Um, he started of scaling street parties at the beginning, you know blending in letting us know if anything suspicious was happening. He did that for a few weeks, he started working on cars, making sure the drivers had everything they needed um he trailed Fenix a lot."

"Did he have anything to do with Letty?"

"I already told you that I didn't think-"

"Think harder."

"No, I mean they would have met at the few parties before the runs, but they didn't work together."

"Is it possible that Fenix knew more about the runnings of the Braga cartel than you did?" Agent Lee asked.

"If you asked me a week ago I would have said no, but now... I don't know. Fenix was certain that he killed Letty, he came back boasting that night. He was so sure. If Fenix knew more about Braga than I did then there is a chance Carmon does too. I mean, it is possible that Carmon has been recruited to fulfil Fenix place."

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.

.

It was safe to say that no one slept well in the few hours that followed. One however, did not sleep at all.

Dom could not understand how Letty could be so close yet couldn't make an effort to let him know that she was ok, anything. She could have left a note, something in his room. Anything!

He headed towards the kitchen after Lee had left and everyone else had gone to bed. He wanted to find something to say that she'd been in this house, in his kitchen, some kind of sign that she was here, that she was alive. Something instead of some fucking coffee cup.

The kitchen didn't look different, feel different hell, even smell different.

He could sense Mia standing at the kitchen doors before he turned to look.

"Is she ok?" He gruffed. He recalled asking Vince the same questions a few days earlier.

"Yeah, she is. Hasn't changed a peep."

"Mmmm," he gruffed, not feeling satisfied at the answer.

"I tried to get her to stay, but she couldn't."

"Couldn't or wouldn't."

"Both, sounded a lot like you actually, claiming she's protecting us. What would you do?"

"I fucking wouldn't have gotten involved in a drug organisation Mia." Dom argued.

"Oh really, so let's say your girlfriend leaves you because she thinks it's too dangerous for you to be found with her. Then after months of trying to find her you make your way home and you try to pick up the pieces of your seemingly half assed life, because Dom it wouldn't be a full life without the person who is literally your other half."

Dom tried to interrupt her but Mia wouldn't have any of it. "Then you see the person who tore it all apart, the reason that you don't have your family anymore, find out he's back living his dream of being a boy in blue and you work out that despite him being responsible for everything that went wrong, you work out that he could be the person to get it all back. No, you wouldn't do anything like that, Dom, not to get your family back.

"Don't you stick up for her Mia, I get it I fucked up but what she did was reckless and stu-," he stopped when he realised that instead of firing her up more, Mia had begun to laugh.

"What?"

"This is the second time I've been accused of sticking up for people tonight. Letty thought I was sticking up for you earlier."

"Hm, well so you should, you're my sister."

"I wasn't sticking up for you and I wasn't sticking up for her. I just want you to know to know that she's already lost everything once, she isn't going to risk it all again."

"Yeah I know Mia, trust me, I know."

.

.

.

The next morning found Dom sitting on the front step of the house, waiting. He wanted badly to head out and find her and had made a plan too. He had figured if she was running then she would stick to the places she knew in order to feel at ease. So he had decided to scope out old hang outs, haunts and old race meet locations. But, when the thought that she might return the house entered his head he found no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't leave the house.

So, he sent Leon and Vince. Rome had offered to go too which didn't seem to bother the boys. He rode with Vince.

They'd been gone for a couple of hours and he hadn't heard anything. So he waited.

And waited.

.

.

.

Letty had seen Leon twice already. The first time he had driven right past her car, she was inside some dodgy little corner store at the time. She let it slide putting it down to coincidence.

The second time she worked out he was a few cars in front of her. When he got the green light to turn, she saw Vince in the car in front of him with a man she hadn't seen riding shotgun. It was then that she worked out they were looking for her again.

Shit!

.

.

.

Brian and Gisele had kept to themselves for most of the afternoon however no one could stay hidden forever.

Brian knew better than to try and approach Mia in case she felt like she was being cornered. If she was, he would find himself out of this house quicker than he could blink.

Gisele had no desire to talk to Mia again either, not after their last conversation. She instead, chose to approach Dom. He was tense and angry and understandably so, but he needed to lighten up, and she knew just how to do it.

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Mia's cell rang out once. Twice. Three times. Mia normally ignored numbers that were blocked, but when it started ringing for the fourth time, seconds after the third time failed, Mia gave in.

"Hello."

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Cars. She was going to get through to him with cars. Getting him to relax even slightly would be an improvement to what he was now. And, not just cars on their own, racing cars.

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.

"Does he have Leon and Vince doing his dirty work?"

Mia knew the voice without an introduction but it still shocked her.

"Yes but it's because he thinks that you're going to come back here."

"Well I'm not Mia, I told you that last night. Put him on."

"What?" Mia whispered not sure that she heard the request right.

"Put him on the damn phone Mia."

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Surprise surprise Gisele found him on the front step. Woman's instinct could tell her what he was there for. Well she just needed to take his mind off that, wouldn't she...

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"Letty, you can't just talk to him on the phone and disappear. You need to come here."

"It's more than what I got."

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Dom wasn't really listening to what Gisele was saying, he was watching the street. She was talking about heading out for a race. Trying to make him feel better, he wasn't interested.

.

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Mia opened the door and saw Gisele and Dom talking, well she saw Gisele talking to Dom. He didn't seem to be responding.

"Dom, here," she said shakily handing him the phone.

"Maybe that's what you need. You are a car man Dom, you need them. You need the adrenaline. Go out have a few races, real races. You never know you might even win. And winners get all the glory, they even get trophies."

He had let her say too much. He didn't hear Mia's voice or see her handing him her phone.

"I don't need a trophy," he said angrily to Giselle turning to stalk to his car.

_**.**_

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_**WOW! What did you think? Please review if you can, it is very much appreciated **___

_**BTW It is really hard to write Gisele this way, especially after seeing Fast Five so don't be mad if you're a Gisele lover (I am **____** but I had already started her with certain traits that I couldn't ignore).**_

_**Thanks for reading.**_


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